Quick Slant: TNF - The Understudy
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Game Environment * Jaguars * Ravens The understudy knows his place. He arrives early. He stays late. He studies the script until he knows every line, every cue, every movement. He rehearses with people with whom he will never share the stage. He watches the leading man
Quick Slant: SNF - Seven Weeks
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Game Environment * Eagles * Commanders On September 13, everything was still possible. The Eagles had won the Super Bowl in February of 2025, passing Washington in the NFC Championship Game along the way. Philadelphia had shaken up its roster some, but that was nothing new; they
Quick Slant: TNF - The Past is Prologue
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Game Environment * Panthers * Packers On October 25, 1993, the Carolina Panthers didn’t exist. Twenty-four hours later, they did. It had been an expensive couple of days. Jerry Richardson's group had watched the NFL's anticipated expansion fee balloon fivefold, from
Quick Slant: SNF - The Last Ride
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Game Environment * Chiefs * Seahawks Some moments in life are so joyful that adrenaline steals the details. They blur past as our minds oscillate from oblivion to consciousness and back again. What’s left of sentience is laced with a narcotic sensation and its associated symptoms:
Quick Slant: TNF - Their Eyes Fixed on Lombardi
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Game Environment * Patriots * Bears I’m dating myself, but I was born in 1978. That childhood the kids today romanticize? The one with the house key and the bike ride to and from school? That was me (along with my high school dress code: baggy
Quick Slant: TNF - Fixer Uppers Looking to Flip Their Seasons
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Game Environment * Cowboys * Packers “It was like playing on a frozen pond. It was slicker than snot on a doorknob.” Cowboys RB Walt Garrison spoke from beneath his cream-colored 10-gallon hat. His demeanor was as straightforward as a man pleading his case when
Quick Slant: TNF - Old Ties, Modern Consequences
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Game Environment * Seahawks * Broncos From 1977 through 2001, the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks were divisional rivals, sharing the AFC West and meeting twice annually for 25 seasons. That's 50 regular-season games, an extraordinary number for two franchises separated by a thousand
Quick Slant: SNF - Fifty-Three Ravens Descend On Atlanta
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Game Environment * Ravens * Falcons FROM THE JOURNAL OF EDGAR ALLAN POE October, 2026 Atlanta. The name was familiar to me, though scarcely the place. I remembered a small railroad town in Georgia. Whatever has occurred here since, it has been considerable. With no better idea