Quick Slant
Mat Irby's Quick Slant
Quick Slant: MNF - Can the Browns Spoil the Season That Was Never Meant to Be?
Browns @ Broncos, Monday @ 8:15 PM The Broncos have been one of the NFL’s most pleasant surprises in 2024. Under HC Sean Payton, they’ve found a way to navigate a season that, for all intents and purposes, should have been a dead end. Strangled by cap issues after
Quick Slant: SNF - The Bills Look Them in the Eyes and Smile, Holding Scissors to the Thread by Which the Niners' Season Hangs
49ers @Bills, Sunday @ 8:20 PM The forecast for Sunday is pure Buffalo—snowy and blustery, cold cutting through layers of down and wool. Amid the white flakes of an after-dark snow shower illuminated by halogen, Highmark Stadium will be alive under a sea of royal blue and red, breathy
Quick Slant: Black Friday - Will It Be a Black and Silver Friday, or Will the Raiders Be Seeing Red?
Raiders @ Chiefs, Friday @ 3:00 PM In the autumn of 1959, Lamar Hunt paced his office. Professional football – a sport he loved – was growing, but the NFL had turned its back on him. When he proposed bringing a team to Texas, the league's owners scoffed at this naive
Quick Slant: MNF - Draw Thy Sword, That Thy Arm May Do Thee Justice
Ravens @ Chargers, Monday @ 8:15 PM If Shakespeare wrote a rivalry, it would be that of the Harbaugh brothers. King Jim: O younger brother, thou hast seized the crown that eludes mine grasp. Whilst I toiled, longing for triumph, thou didst snatch from me what fate denied. Blood of my
Quick Slant: SNF - The Rams, Backed into a Corner and Fighting for Survival, Affix Their Eyes Upon the Unstoppable Force
Eagles @ Rams, Sunday @ 8:20 PM The Rams will face a formidable opponent on Sunday night. The Eagles, at 8-2, have emerged as one of the NFL’s most complete teams. Their slow start now feels like a stellar remnant as the Eagles have become a team without weakness, piloted
Quick Slant: TNF - The Browns and Steelers Renew the AFC's Oldest Rivalry
Steelers @ Browns, Thursday @ 8:15 PM When the All-American Football Conference folded after the 1949 season, the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and Baltimore Colts merged into the NFL, and the Browns were dropped into the American Division along with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Browns had been the only champion
Quick Slant: MNF - The Cowboys Are What Fantasy Sadness Looks Like
Texans @ Cowboys, Sunday @ 8:15 PM Growing up in the northern suburbs of Dallas, my family and I spent a great deal of time Downtown; we regularly attended basketball games at Reunion Arena; the 1987 Mavericks, who my sister worked for, took the Showtime Lakers to seven in the Western
Quick Slant: SNF - Two Teams Meet in Hopes That This is the Right World
Bengals @ Chargers, Sunday @ 8:20 PM The Bengals are one week removed from a loss that could stand as a microcosm for their entire season (and be the reason they miss the playoffs in hindsight) – a one-point soul-crusher against division rival Baltimore where a narrowly-missed two-point try featured multiple glaring