Andy: So I have Indy, Denver, New England and Baltimore winning divisions in the AFC and Seattle, Green Bay, Carolina and Dallas winning in the NFC. I’ll give Arizona, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Miami wild cards, with Marvin Lewis and Chip Kelly being two guys whose failures to make the playoffs will result in hotseats at the season’s end.

I think there are probably three teams in each conference I see as truly strong contenders for the Super Bowl, but I’ll give Indy and Seattle homefield advantages at this point, the Colts because they have clear sailing through a weak division and the Seahawks because though they are slightly flawed in some areas, including starting two converted defensive linemen on their offensive line, I think they still have the strongest defense in the NFC and you can’t beat their postseason experience from the last few years.

Tony: In the NFL, most years it seems that about half of the teams from the previous season’s playoffs don’t make it back. You’ve really gone out on a limb, predicting that a total of TWO teams from last year (Cincinnati and Detroit) won’t make it back, including a grand total of one new division winner (Baltimore in the AFC North).

Meanwhile, I have a much more respectable 5 new teams in the playoffs, with Indy, New England, Denver and Cincinnati winning the AFC divisions and Kansas City and Miami grabbing the wildcards, and Green Bay, Seattle, Dallas and New Orleans winning the NFC divisions, and Minnesota and Philadelphia grabbing wildcards.

I don’t know if I really believe all of that, but it makes me look better on paper, so I’m sticking to it for now.

Realistically, in the AFC, I’m not sure if I think anyone other than Indianapolis or New England can get to the Super Bowl, although even those teams have flaws—Indianapolis on the offensive line and defense, and New England their terrible knack for cheating at every opportunity they find.

In the NFC, I think it’s a little more open—Seattle may still have the best shot, but they’ve clearly lost some talent due to salary cap situations, and if Kam Chancellor doesn’t report soon, it can hurt them for sure. The Packers may have surpassed them on paper, but replacing Jordy Nelson won’t be easy, and they aren’t even going to have an easy time winning the North (fingers crossed), and if the Vikings get some confidence, there’s no reason they couldn’t upset a few people late in the season with a running back that loves to inflict pain…on defenses. The Cowboys and Eagles seem like they could put together a streak at the right time as well—and even the Cardinals, who I don’t have in the playoffs, could possibly put together a run and prove me wrong.

In fact, about the only team I don’t see making a deep run for sure is…whoever wins the NFC South by default. I have it as New Orleans, but take your pick—they might luck their way into a wildcard round win at home, but they can’t go on the road in January and expect to win.

Andy: Hmm. You’re ripping on me because I am going against the standard grain by saying that more participants than normal will repeat as playoff teams and patting yourself on the back for going chalk. Yay you.

In the AFC, I think the division winners are stronger than the wild card teams, so I predict the top four seeds move on to the semis. It will get more interesting there, though. For something like the 32nd year in a row, Baltimore and Pittsburgh will meet in the postseason. The Steelers’ youth on defense will be exposed and the Ravens will move on to the conference finals.

On the other side of the bracket, the Pats will make another run, beating the Dolphins in a wildcard game and, in perhaps the most fitting ending to a great career in the history of the NFL, they then put the nail in the tire that is Peyton Manning’s career, feeding the Broncos yet another disappointment in the postseason.

In the NFC, I think the wildcard teams have a chance to upset the third and fourth division winners. Minnesota will take out Dallas before bowing out to Seattle in the semis. Arizona, with its starting QB in place, will get revenge on Carolina for putting them down last year when Ryan Lindley was the best signal caller they could find. The Cardinals will ride that momentum and take out the Packers in the divisional playoffs.

Tony: Well sorry for knowing things like the fact that since the NFL went to the 12-team format, at least four new teams have made the playoffs each season. OK, I started to research that, and found in an NFL.com article. Meanwhile, you belong on one of the national radio shows—I could have saved both of our readers a lot of time for you, and just gone ahead and put down your Super Bowl as New England vs. Seattle again.

In the wildcard round, I’ve got Cincinnati hosting Kansas City—the time of year when Marvin Lewis and the ginger QB usually choke. Well this year…well, ok, this is one thing that won’t change. It will be close, due to Alex Smith and Andy Reid, but the Chiefs with the upset. In the other wildcard game, the Dolphins will have a tough time with their playoff inexperience, and traveling to Denver, where the weather will be a bit more of an issue than South Beach. It will be ugly, but Peyton Manning will figure out some way to pull it out, setting up (hopefully) one last showdown with Tom Brady in the playoffs.

In the NFC,  a couple of intriguing wildcard matchups, with division rivals Dallas hosting Philadelphia (and DeMarco Murray), and Minnesota getting a chance to pay back New Orleans for the 2009 NFC Championship game. The Eagles/Cowboys game would be a good matchup, but ultimately I think by January the Dallas ground game will be settled in, and they’ll keep the fast paced Philly offense off the field just enough.  In New Orleans, the inferiority of the NFC South shines through, and the Vikings set up another playoff battle with their divisional rival Green Bay Packers.

Andy: You were almost right, except for the part where you weren’t. Yeah, the Patriots will make a run, but they won’t make the Super Bowl. The defense will be exposed when they play Baltimore. The Ravens aren’t without flaw either, but by then, Breshaud Perriman should be healthy and ready to contribute. Steve Smith will be driven all year. And Joe Flacco is a helluva postseason player.

Seattle will repeat in the NFC, though. They’ll be driven by the failure to finish in 2014 and will regain the top spot with a solid win over Baltimore in the Super Bowl.

Tony: Wow, I even disagree with you here—I think the Patriots are more likely to make it back to the Super Bowl than the Seahawks, who are missing too many pieces, and are bound to finally choke. The Patriots, meanwhile, have a chip on their shoulder, and are bound and determined to prove to the league and its fans that they can win without cheating—and they’ll undoubtedly do whatever they need to do (legal or not) to do so.  The Patriots will steam role the Broncos and finding a way to take out the Colts.

In the NFC, the Vikings won’t quite be able to vanquish the Packers—give them one more season—and the Cowboys will take out the Seahawks, by avoiding the Legion of Boom with their three or four-headed running game, before running over the Packers defense as well.

In a Super Bowl matchup of two teams that people love to hate, I will once again hope for spontaneous combustion. I’ll say the Cowboys figure out a way to win it, and reclaim their title of America’s Most Hated Team.