Quick Slant
Mat Irby's Quick Slant
Quick Slant: Is This the New Allen, and Can the Jets (Ever) Get on Track?
Bills @ Jets, Monday @ 8:15 PM The expectations for the AFC East were greater than this. People gushed over three teams and wondered which had the best chance at the Super Bowl. Only the Patriots were appraised with no shot; perhaps, in retrospect, we were only right about them. The
Quick Slant: Don't Be Ashamed - It's Okay to Be a Little Excited About Bengals vs. Giants on SNF
Bengals at Giants, Sunday @ 8:20 PM The Bengals aspired to be AFC contenders. Largely perceived to have a talented roster, especially on the offensive side of the ball, Cincinnati started with a shocking loss to the Patriots, who haven’t won since. They’ve battled harder against better teams
Quick Slant: TNF Is the Tale of Two Surprises (But for Different Reasons)
49ers @ Seahawks, Thursday at 8:15 PM San Francisco was expected to win the NFC. They were supposed to contend for the Super Bowl. Instead, they have been decimated by injuries and are 2-3. Nothing has gone to plan so far, but almost no one truly believes San Francisco will
Quick Slant: Getting Back on Track in the Shadow of the Oncoming Train - The Saints Try to Get Right Against the Champs
Saints @ Chiefs, Monday @ 8:15 PM Two weeks ago, Saints fans were on top of the world. Having eaten the Cowboys for lunch in front of Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady in the Fox game of the week, they had scored 91 offensive points through two weeks and looked like
Quick Slant: The Love and the Hate - The NFL's Most Historical Inter-Conference Rivalry Plays Out on SNF
Cowboys @ Steelers, Sunday @ 8:20 PM Few inter-conference matchups are as historically prestigious as Dallas and Pittsburgh. They have combined for eleven Super Bowl victories, three against each other—more than any other pairing. The Cowboys had a streak of consecutive winning seasons from 1966 to 1985, the longest of
Quick Slant: Two Remarkably Similar Teams (to Varying Degrees of Success) Vie for the NFC South Lead on TNF
Buccaneers @ Falcons, Thursday @ 8:15 PM The Buccaneers and Falcons come into Week 5’s matchup with the division lead on the line. The 2-2 Falcons were the NFC South’s off-season pet after they added a new coaching staff and the top free agent QB to a roster many
Quick Slant: Grit and Grace on MNF - Motown's Underdog Against Seattle's Overachiever
Seahawks @ Lions, Monday @ 8:15 PM The Lions were last year’s darling – representatives of a city that’s a blue-collar hammer, cold and tough, devastated by the end of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the Great Recession, driven to mass poverty, and desperate for a win. And
Quick Slant: Dolphins and Titans Prepare to Get Busy Livin' or Get Busy Dyin' on the MNF Undercard
Titans @ Dolphins, Monday @ 7:30 PM The Dolphins have received waves of bad news this season. A sluggish start against Jacksonville yielded yardage but little scoring; it was unknown the Jags would be one of the worst teams in the AFC approaching the quarter turn, so the blip seemed like