Quick Slant: TNF - Belief Is Provisional
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Rams * Seahawks For the Seahawks, there seemed to be no grand championship plan, just items going off the shelf and replacements shipping in, like retail. Geno Smith was out, DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Dre’Mont Jones. Sam Darnold, Cooper Kupp, DeMarcus Lawrence, and Josh Jones
Quick Slant: MNF - This Dreadful, Often Painful Cause
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Dolphins * Steelers I’ve committed an unreasonable amount of my life to sports, and if you’re with me here, odds are you have as well (hell, getting through my intros alone requires the devotion of a Labrador). Still, it’s worth pausing now and
Quick Slant: SNF - A Ball Arcing Into Winter
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Vikings * Cowboys Gray mounds of shoveled-off snow were still bunched in the corners of Bloomington’s Metropolitan Stadium; it was 28 degrees. Brent McClanahan barreled over the thin, yellowing grass, barely blanketing a firmament of soft brown mud, and fell into the end zone, and
Quick Slant: TNF - The Anaconda
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Falcons * Buccaneers By the time your synapses have caught up with what’s happening, it’s already got you. You tell yourself there is a way to escape, so you flail with all your might; blood rushes to your extremities, filling your chest, your shoulders,
Quick Slant: MNF - A Wingnut and a Carriage Bolt
Mat Irby’s Quick Slant * Chargers * Eagles There will always be a rivalry between the East and West Coast. It’s more than Lakers/Celtics or Tupac/Biggie; it’s Heffner/Hoffa, Gehry/Lloyd Wright, and Disney/Sinatra. It’s the stiff pragmatism of the Ivy League versus the drop-out
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