Mat Irby's Quick Slant
Texans @ Jets, Thursday @ 8:15 PM The Jets make their weekly pilgrimage to a nationally televised island game. Is it the most overexposed team in football history? People are starting to talk. Obviously, the Jets represent a big market, and, of course, Aaron Rodgers is a huge name. The merger
Giants @ Steelers, Monday @ 8:15 PM At 2-5, the Giants seem like slight overachievers. Proud owners of four Lombardi Trophies, they now cling to relevancy, an annual tradition spanning a decade. Under HC Brian Daboll, they have walked a tightrope between progress and peril for three years. Daniel Jones lives
Cowboys @ 49ers, Sunday @ 8:20 PM In the post-merger NFL annals, few teams loom as large as the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers. Together, they account for ten total Super Bowl victories and 16 appearances, representing over 27% of the NFC’s total appearances and 34% of its
Vikings @ Rams, Thursday @ 8:15 PM The Vikings have already exceeded what many thought was possible for them in 2024. In August, ESPN ranked them 23rd in their pre-season power rankings. Their over/under on wins was around 6.5, and at the beginning of September, odds were set at
Chargers @ Cardinals, Monday @ 9:00 PM We reserve our sports empathy for the Northeast, the Midwest – the oldest parts of the country – the broken and battered industrial cities that live as underdogs and survivors and derive hope from their champions. As if pain can only subsist in the veins of
Ravens @ Buccaneers, Monday @ 8:15 PM The Bucs and Ravens enter Monday’s game perceived as two of the NFL’s top tier, and there are many implications for the playoff races. The Ravens are 4-2 and leading the ordinarily competitive AFC North. In what was supposed to be a
Jets @ Steelers, Sunday @ 8:20 PM For the Jets, what a difference a week makes. They lost on Monday but fought hard against a good team and narrowly came up on the wrong end. This was New York’s first game under new HC Jeff Ulbrich after Robert Saleh was
Broncos @ Saints, Thursday @8:15 PM Thursday Night Football is up to its old tricks again. A nationally featured island game with the lowest over-under of the week sounds vaguely familiar, but usually not with the Bezos edition. There was a time in the NFL when a 36.5 over-under