Neil Reynolds' predictions did not ring true as the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers booked their places at Super Bowl 50.
And that is why they play the games! Heading into Sunday's Super Bowl semi-finals - the AFC and NFC Championship Games - I felt sure that the New England Patriots would easily handle the Denver Broncos and that the Carolina Panthers would edge past the Arizona Cardinals in a high-scoring thriller.
But they don't just send teams to the Super Bowl based on predictions. They actually let the players play and, of course, I was wrong! Denver advanced to the 50th Super Bowl with a 20-18 win over New England and Carolina hammered Arizona to the tune of a 49-15 beat-down.
Here are six stories that caught the eye on Sunday evening and as we look ahead to an historic Super Bowl in San Francisco.
Manning in the Super Bowl!
I've made no secret of the fact that I thought Peyton Manning should have hung up his boots at the end of last season. And during the course of a challenging 2015 campaign, the ageing veteran with declining skills has been benched, injured and humbled by a game that is no respecter of reputation.
But he's going to the Super Bowl!
What an amazing, incredible story and one that could have been written a very different way indeed had the Broncos not turned the ball over five times in a poor effort against the San Diego Chargers in Week 17. Had Denver not hit the self-destruct button early in that game, we could have been talking about Brock Osweiler now.
Manning's arm is gone, but he made just enough throws to play a complementary role on Sunday with 176 yards and two touchdowns. Most importantly, he went a second straight start without throwing an interception. Peyton is not about to wow us with some of the throws of yesteryear, but he just has to do enough and then stay out of the way so Denver's defence can take over.
Dominant defence
And that's just what happened on Sunday evening as Denver's defence bared its teeth and showed why it ended the 2015 season statistically ranked as the best in the league. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady went down fighting like a true champion but he was bullied and harassed all day long.
Von Miller (two and a half sacks and an interception) and DeMarcus Ware (half a sack but many more pressures and hits on Brady) were exploding out of their stances and setting up camp in the New England backfield for most of the game.
But as Brady likes to get the ball out of his hands so quickly, it takes a total team effort to get him down and Denver did a sterling job in the secondary. It's hard to eliminate Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman from the game plan, but the Broncos did take the latter out of the equation, holding him to just seven catches for 53 yards.
Brady endured a rough day at the office with two interceptions. He was sacked four times and hit on another 20 occasions. He went down swinging at the end, but his offence was no match for that vicious Broncos defence on this afternoon.
No longer automatic
During the past off-season, the NFL ruled that some spice should be put into the extra point attempt. It was becoming too routine and was really an early time to run to the bathroom or to re-fill your favourite beverage.
The NFL ruled that extra point attempts be moved back to the 15-yard line, turning a 19 or 20-yard chip-shot into a 33-yard nerve-tester. It proved to be a good move as the extra point became a season-long adventure for kickers around the league. A total of 71 were missed during the regular season and there had already been one in the play-offs by the time Stephen Gostkowski stepped up to tie the scores at seven apiece in the first half.
New England's kicker had nailed 523 extra points in a row before pushing this effort wide right. And the NFL finally had the play-off drama it had been hoping for when installing this new rule which is under review in this coming off-season. That miss meant New England had to go for two points to tie after scoring with just 12 seconds remaining. Had Gostkowski made that earlier kick, a conversion at the end would have sent the contest into overtime.
I think this new rule is here to stay, not that kickers around the NFL will thank me for saying that.
Super Cam
As he stood on the podium waiting to receive the George Halas Trophy that is handed out to the champions of the NFC, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was treated to a round of "MVP, MVP" chants from the crowd on hand and from his own team-mates.
And it's hard to make any kind of case that counters the growing inevitability that Newton will be named the league's Most Valuable Player the night before the Super Bowl.
This defensive end-sized quarterback is a rare breed. In fact, there is no one else like him in the NFL at the moment and he showcased all his skills on Sunday, throwing for 335 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for a pair of scores.
His physical skills are off the charts but where Newton has made the biggest stride this year is in growing up as a team leader and in reading defences and making the correct adjustments in the heat of the battle. Newton has gone from breath-taking talent with huge potential to the best in the business who stands one win short of writing his name in the record books forever.
Warriors in race against time
I've been fortunate enough to spend quite a bit of time with Panthers defenders Jared Allen and Thomas Davis in recent years and both are stand-up guys of high character who you would want on any team. They are leaders, role models and excellent defenders.
And both are now in a race against time to play in the 50th Super Bowl. Allen broke his foot in the divisional round of the playoffs and was on the sidelines on Sunday, while Davis broke his arm in the first half against the Cardinals but insists he is not going to miss the big game in San Francisco on February 7.
I wouldn't write off either man. Davis is the only player in league history to overcome three separate ACL tears to the same knee and Allen is as tough as they come and is a player who has rarely sniffed the Super Bowl in his 12 years in the league. Neither will want to be on the periphery when the Panthers take to the biggest NFL stage of them all.
If they can make it into this Super Bowl, Allen and Davis will evoke memories of the great Jack Youngblood - a defensive end who played for the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl XIV even though he had broken his leg during his team's play-off run. Youngblood even played in the Pro Bowl all-star game (which is essentially a friendly) a week later.
I'm rooting for Allen and Davis - they're good people who deserve their moment in the spotlight.
Panthers my early favourites
There are thousands of words to write and a lot of hot air to be spouted before the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers go head to head in Super Bowl 50, but I'm making the Panthers my early favourites and the odds-makers in Las Vegas tend to agree.
When they're on a roll like they were in the first half against Seattle and on Sunday night against Arizona, the Panthers are virtually impossible to stop. If they can get that kind of offensive momentum going, Carolina will prove too much for a Denver team that will struggle to keep pace.
But Denver's defence is going to be a factor and, as I mentioned at the very top of this column, that's why they play the game!