After the August 30 upset of 17th ranked Virginia Tech, I looked at how the East Carolina Pirates won that game and came up with the answer "by the skin of their chin".

Well, naturally, with that kind of reaction to a 27-22 victory, I picked the West Virginia Mountaineers to defeat East Carolina yesterday, September 6.

When the Pirates won, I was officially on the bandwagon. This team held Pat White and the WVU offense to only 3 points! How does that happen? Plus, it was great, because being from Pittsburgh, how often do I get to hear "Pirates win!" anymore? Not very often. It was quite refreshing.

The guy who really impressed me these past two weeks is Patrick Pinkney, the ECU quarterback. His play has been terrific, and his play alone is what is keeping them above the rest of Conference-USA. Pinkney has one of the best weapons in all of C-USA to utilize in RB Jonathan Williams. The ECU running back is an ideal balanced offensive weapon, and he could be another big NFL draftee from this school when he's done at the collegiate level.

The Mountaineers never got anything going, and Pat White for the first time in his career, looked confused. I've never been able to say that as long as I've been watching him play at the highest level. He coudln't read the defense, and was often sacked, hurried, blitzed, or had to take off with the ball because nobody wearing white was open. When he did run the ball, he went down quickly, and that's what was amazing about the Pirates defense; they never let him get an opening. It seemed like there weren't eleven, but 22 guys on ECU's defense. They were everywhere, crowding the lanes, double-covering, sacking! White finished 11 of 18 for only 72 yards passing, while rushing 20 times and getting 97 yards.

This week (Saturday, 9/13), the Pirates take on the unranked Tulane Green Wave, who lost to 13 Alabama 20-6 on Saturday. Here is their upcoming schedule:

9/13- @ Tulane
9/20- @ North Carolina State
9/27- vs. Houston
10/11- @ Virginia

If the team I've seen pull of two upsets in two weeks is the REAL East Carolina, then these four games look like 4 more wins. Imagine that, a 6-0 C-USA team, looking for more! Wow, I LOVE College Football!

Skip Holtz has got an incredible thing going on down there in Greenville, and if the Pirates continue on their current run, they might be as big as the other Carolina teams, the Tar Heels or the Gamecocks, or maybe EVEN BIGGER?

-Mike Greenspire

These picks are straight-up.

BTW- I had the Giants beating the Redskins on Thursday.

Lions at Falcons = Lions
Seahawks at Bills = Bills
Jaguars at Titans = Titans
Jets at Dolphins = Jets
Chiefs at Patriots = Patriots
Bucs at Saints = Saints
Rams at Eagles = Eagles
Texans at Steelers = Steelers
Bengals at Ravens = Bengals
Cowboys at Browns = Cowboys
Panthers at Chargers = Chargers
Cardinals at 49ers = Cardinals
Bears at Colts = Colts
Vikings at Packers = Vikings
Broncos at Raiders = Raiders

2008 Record: 1-0

Have a great Sunday!

-Mike Greenspire

For the past two weeks, I have been doing a series, documenting each division and where everyone will finish in that division. Here are my final predictions for each division!

AFC East
z-New England (15-1)
x-New York (10-6)
Buffalo (9-7)
Miami (3-13)

AFC North
y-Pittsburgh (12-4)
Cleveland (10-6)
Cincinnati (8-8)
Baltimore (2-14)

AFC South
y-Indianapolis (12-4)
x-Jacksonville (10-6)
Tennessee (9-7)
Houston (8-8)

AFC West
y-San Diego (9-7)
Denver (8-8)
Oakland (6-10)
Kansas City (2-14)

NFC East
z-Dallas (13-3)
x-Philadelphia (9-7)
New York (8-8)
Washington (5-11)

NFC North
y-Minnesota (10-6)
x-Detroit (10-6)
Green Bay (7-9)
Chicago (4-12)

NFC South
y-New Orleans (11-5)
Tampa Bay (9-7)
Atlanta (6-10)
Carolina (5-11)

NFC West
y-Seattle (10-6)
Arizona (9-7)
San Francisco (5-11)
St. Louis (2-14)

*z = Clinched Home-Field Advantage, y = Clinched Division, x = Clinched Wild Card Spot

Well, here are my division winners and wild cards for each conference: (In parentheses next to each team is their seeding in the post-season)

AFCEast: Patriots (1)
North: Steelers (2)
South: Colts (3)
West: Chargers (4)
Wild Card 1: Jets (5)
Wild Card 2: Jaguars (6)

NFC
East: Cowboys (1)
North: Vikings (3)
South: Saints (2)
West: Seahawks (4)
Wild Card 1: Lions (5)
Wild Card 2: Eagles (6)

So, here are my playoff predictions for the 2008 season!

Wild Card

AFC
Jaguars at Colts = Colts
Jets at Chargers = Jets

NFC
Eagles at Vikings = Vikings
Lions at Seahawks = Seahawks

Divisional

AFC
Colts at Steelers = Steelers
Jets at Patriots = Patriots

NFC
Vikings at Saints = Saints
Seahawks at Cowboys = Cowboys

Conference Championships

AFC
Steelers at Patriots = Patriots

NFC
Saints at Cowboys = Cowboys

Super Bowl XLIII
Cowboys vs. Patriots (from Tampa, FL) = New England Patriots

So, the way I see it, the Patriots will be the Super Bowl 43 Champions.

Any disagreements? Who do you pick to be champ? Lemme hear what you guys and gals have to say! Have a great weekend, everyone, and enjoy the first Sunday of the season!

-Mike Greenspire

Here are this week's Game Balls! Make sure you stop by these blogs and tell the authors what you think!

 SRMgenius shares his thoughts on Randy Moss starting a racing team

spanish_jam gives us his Top 5 Eastern Conference Teams 

 pittsburgh_mike gives us his 2008 NFL predictions

birk tells us why this weekend will be HUGE on the MLB playoff picture 

 candyman18 recaps the sparks that flew in NASCAR last weekend

Enjoy tonight's Redskins/Giants game! Take care, everyone! Good blogs today by our winners!

-Mike Greenspire

This is the eighth and final post of a two-week series I will be doing, discussing every team by division and how I see their 2008 NFL season playing out. Today, we are discussing the NFC West division, which is populated by the Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks and St. Louis Rams. Let’s get started!

Seattle Seahawks
Matt Hasselbeck has always played solid in the regular season, and I don’t expect that to change in 2008. He seems to be battling a back injury, but is scheduled to start the season opener at Buffalo.
The Seahawks lost Shaun Alexander, who’s production slowly deteriorated in ‘06 and ‘07 after an MVP season in 2005. They did, however, acquire Julius Jones from the Dallas Cowboys. He will have an immediate impact on the offense’s production, and can easily take some of the pressure off of Matt Hasselbeck so he’s not getting hit hard as often.
The defense will be one of the best in the league in 2008. Patrick Kerney was easily the best defensive lineman in 2007, passing even Jared Allen of the Chiefs (now Vikings). I expect the secondary to have a strong year, but the linebackers and D-Lineman will be the ones who win or lose the division for the Seahawks. Lofa Tatupu and Patrick Kerney should both have extraordinary seasons. As far as the regular season goes, the Seahawks are a team to watch out for.

Regular Season Prediction: 10-6, 1st in NFC West, #4 seed in NFC playoffs

Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals are going old school and starting The Fossil, Kurt Warner, on opening day rather than Matt Leinart. I’m only gonna say one thing about Matt Leinart right now: trade him.
The Cards have not been good with Leinart at the helm, but when the Hermit comes on out of the hills, they seem to do excellent. Warner threw more touchdowns in the final 8 games last season than any other QB, including Tom Brady.
Edgerrin James is getting older, but is still a solid contributor to the offense, and you can safely bet on him rushing for 1,000+ yards this season, and 10-12 touchdowns. He is also one of the best catching backs in the league, and an pop moves on any defender on any day. If the offense stays in rhythm with him, and vice-versa, watch out for the Cardinals.
Larry Fitzgerald will have himself another sensational year, and I still haven’t heard much on the Boldin situation. If he does come back, the Cardinals will be the ones who win the NFC West, guaranteed. As long as Warner stays healthy, that is. If Boldin doesn’t come back, the Cards will still be in contention close to the end, and may even sneak out a few more wins than I’m giving them. But for now, I think Anquan Boldin is gonna get traded, which will hurt the offense, and cause them to miss the post-season.

Regular Season Prediction: 9-7, 2nd in NFC West, no playoffs

San Francisco 49ers
More and more people are jumping on the bandwagon of this team, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. One guy who hasn’t proven himself at the pro level (JT O’Sullivan) is expected to turn things around and win the division or a wild card berth. This makes absolutely no sense to me, if a former number 1 picks can’t get it done, what makes you think a guy who hasn’t proven anyone anything can? I may be wrong, but the chances of that on this particular topic are slim.
Frank Gore will be the offensive leader, and if they are going to finish above .500, his offensive teammates need to play at the level he’s played at the past two seasons. The wideouts are that offense are weak, and Isaac Bruce is the best one there. There were better options out there, but they neglected to be active in the off-season, and did nothing. Now, they are giving a brand new quarterback, who’s never played in San Fran before, no offensive receiving weapons, besides that of TE Vernon Davis. How he is expected to get them 10 wins again? Get real. Try half that.

Regular Season Prediction: 5-11, 3rd in NFC West, no playoffs

St. Louis Rams
The Rams are probably the most under-achieving team in the league. All the money they’re shelling out to the offense of Marc Bulger, Torry Holt, Steven Jackson, Orlando Pace, and they can only give them three wins?! That’s absolutely unacceptable.
Bulger signed a six-year deal prior to the 2007 season that would pay him bookoo bucks, and all he did was either get hurt or throw interceptions. I think Steven Jackson was hoping the Rams cut him so he could sign elsewhere with a team that is in a position to win sometime in the next decade. He doesn’t deserve to be on a team that does nothing but stink up the joint. He’s too good of a player.
The defense has nobody on it, and if they don’t do something in the next 3 days, they have no chance, because even if their offense does give the Rams the lead, the defense will give the lead up twice as fast.
It’s really disappointing to watch, and I hope they get their #### figured out, but I just don’t see it happening. In fact, I see them digressing from last year’s dismal 3-13 record. That’s hard to do.

Regular Season Prediction: 2-14, 4th in NFC West, no playoffs

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Let me hear what you think! That’s a wrap on the previews, thanks for stopping by and reading what I have to say! Enjoy opening night tonight with Redskins versus Giants!

-Mike Greenspire