Quick Slant: SNF - The Two Texans-es
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Texans * Chiefs The palms and sunshine of Miami stood in stark contrast to the cool midwinter of Dallas, where Hunt, 26, worked at his father’s oil company. He was from money; he had been trying relentlessly to acquire a piece of the NFL—recommending
Quick Slant: TNF - Dare to Believe
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Cowboys * Lions The Silverdome was alive. The stands were in constant motion, an anthill underfoot; the noise rose like a giant kettle at full boil, whistling and shaking the walls. Faces showed pure joy—dancing, singing, waving towels—convinced this was the day—January 5,
Quick Slant: MNF - Take Nothing For Granted
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Giants * Patriots When the clock hit double zeroes in the Meadowlands on December 29, 2007, two things felt equally absolute: the Patriots, fresh off the first 16-0 regular season in NFL history, were an undeniable team of destiny; their opponent, the Giants, who had backed
Quick Slant: SNF - The Smiling Personification of the Inevitable
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Broncos * Commanders Steve Cox only managed a 34-yard punt. Out came Elway. Elway in Denver was like your five-year-old daughter and her friends had taken the accessories off of Summit Adventure Ken and put them on Beach Ken. Elway was a tow-headed Beach Boy with
Quick Slant: Black Friday - Us vs. Them
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Bears * Eagles This city began with an idea meeting ambition; that hit, and the Entrepreneur—one of ours—brought this community along to ride the coattails of their genius and ingenuity. Smokestacks rose over brick, filling cold skies with billows of ceaseless productivity. It meant
Quick Slant: MNF - All Shred, No Shed
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Panthers * 49ers When the Giants cut WR Ed McCaffrey after his third season, the 49ers came calling a week later. It wasn’t a chance to relish some homecoming in Northern California, where he’d played at Stanford; it was a job, and McCaffrey was
Quick Slant: TNF - The Football Gods are Nihilists
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Bills * Texans Sports lie in this fuzzy penumbra between the brutality, discipline, and operational calculus of a military campaign, and something as cold and unfeeling as a dice roll; it is clear which the public ignores, and which it identifies as cause. It is romantic
Quick Slant: MNF - But the Gift Shop Will Be Open
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Cowboys * Raiders Dallas was founded in 1850—a small town nestled in broad meadows under big skies with nary a water source in sight, which it remained for some 80 years. Then oil was discovered beneath it—lots of it. Wells and derricks plunged into