The final episode of Hard Knocks with the Bears is in the books, which means the regular season is here. Best moment: Practice shots We didn’t get a ton of insight into practices during this season of Hard Knocks, but the production did an excellent job of showcasing some of No. 1 pick Caleb Williams’ final practices ahead of the regular season. The camera transitions from one play to the next were very smooth, displaying the former Heisman Trophy winner getting into a rhythm with how things were cut. DJ Moore was on the receiving end of most of those passes, and it looks like he and Williams are forming an outstanding connection ahead of the regular season. Worst moment: The cuts Overall, the cutting of players—and, in many cases, their…
Episode 4 of Hard Knocks with the Bears was an improvement and the most memorable of the summer to this point. Best moment: Improved practice insight This season of Hard Knocks has been disappointing and low energy by many standards, but last night’s episode was clearly the best of the season through four episodes. It provided more depth and drama, but on top of that the practice insight early in the episode was much better than it had been. We saw undrafted rookie running back Ian Wheeler getting coached up, and he responded by taking a big hit to lowering the boom himself later in practice, which got everyone fired up. We hadn’t seen much competitiveness to this point, so it was an improvement on the season. Worst moment: Ian Wheeler tears…
The latest episode of Hard Knocks closely followed a couple of young players having success. Best moment: Matt Eberflus and Caleb Williams meeting After the first preseason game, a strong outing from No. 1 pick Caleb Williams at Buffalo, we were again given insight of the quarterback’s one-on-one meetings with head coach Matt Eberflus. They seem to dive into everything, from the types of looks and coverages a defense is giving to footwork on play-action. Obviously, they have a long way to go to even approach them, but it’s worth noting that Bill Belichick and Tom Brady held those types of meetings for years during their unprecedented run of success in New England. Worst moment: Lack of depth Through three episodes, this has been an overly rosy season of Hard Knocks—and…
The second episode of Hard Knocks with the Bears went into the first preseason action for top pick Caleb Williams. Best moment: Game action After what appeared to be a solid week of practice, some of the storylines translated very well to the preseason matchup against the Bills. In his NFL preseason debut, No. 1 pick Caleb Williams displayed the talent that made him such a great quarterback prospect; and we saw Velus Jones Jr. and Ian Wheeler both play well, which we’ll get to later. In the stands, DJ Moore’s family, Rome Odunze’s mom, and Austin Reed’s parents were excited for the game, and overall it was a strong showing for Chicago (a 33-6 win) as they continue to build toward the regular season next month. Worst moment: Austin…
Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Chicago Bears premiered last night with an episode focused mostly on the quarterback and head coach. Best moment: Tracking Caleb Williams No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams was one of the most hyped NFL draft prospects in a while, so it’s no surprise that Hard Knocks’ first episode—and likely most of the season—will focus heavily on him. Some of the stuff he did in college (e.g., painting his fingernails) made Williams a polarizing player to many, but he came off very well in Episode 1 and can probably win over a lot of uncertain fans that watch the show. We saw some growing pains and adjustments throughout practices, but the young quarterback’s talent is evident. Another strong moment was receiver DJ Moore coolly going back…
Last night ended the five-episode run of the first season of the offseason edition of HBO’s Hard Knocks. Featuring the New York Giants ahead of their 100th anniversary season, Hard Knocks: Offseason dove into the process from the end of last season through the 2024 NFL Draft before players hit the field for offseason training. Not to say anything either way about the Giants’ own process as a front office, in terms of the access and quality of the series, there’s no doubt that Hard Knocks: Offseason is a success. While there is a level of final say and approval from franchises regarding what can ultimately air throughout Hard Knocks series (for competitive reasons), it largely gives unprecedented in-depth access into an organization. For example, with the Giants on the show, we were privy…
It’s a Hard Knocks life for NFL fans. It was reported earlier this year that the in-season version of the HBO Sports series would follow an entire division, and the announcement has been made—with the competitive AFC North chosen. [embed]https://twitter.com/StreamOnMax/status/1802749736132227274?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet[/embed] There will be no shortage of storylines to follow for all four of the Ravens, Bengals, Browns, and Steelers—and the league wisely decided on a division that is full of teams with high expectations to begin the new format. The press release discusses the “array” of star players in the AFC North, and it will be the first time the Steelers have ever appeared on Hard Knocks, which has of course expanded to Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants premiering on July 2, Hard Knocks: Training Camp with…
Coming at a great time in somewhat of a dead zone in the sports calendar ahead of NFL training camp, Netflix is releasing the docuseries Receiver on July 10. The streaming giant came out with a trailer for the series: https://twitter.com/netflix/status/1801253311892324519 Following Davante Adams, Justin Jefferson, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Amon-Ra St. Brown, Receiver will give insight into their different journeyes during the 2023 NFL season. Adams went through a coaching change to Antonio Pierce in Vegas, Jefferson dealt with a serious hamstring injury, Kittle and Samuel went to another Super Bowl and fell short as a squad with the 49ers, and St. Brown continued to show he's one of the NFL's top weaons with an All-Pro campaign while helping the Lions reach the NFC title…
The 2024 team on HBO’s Hard Knocks is set. The Chicago Bears, now headlined by No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams at quarterback, will be featured later this summer. This will be the first time the Bears will be featured on the series. NFL Films senior director and supervising producer Shannon Furman said in the press release: We are honored to feature such an iconic NFL franchise on Hard Knocks. The Chicago Bears have a talented roster, coaching staff and front office all determined to match the expectations of a hungry fanbase. We are thankful to the entire organization for opening their doors to us for what is sure to be an exciting training camp this summer. Among the storylines are Williams’ first NFL training camp, the additions of players like…
HBO’s Hard Knocks premiered in 2001 by following the Baltimore Ravens in training camp, and it has become a late-summer staple for football fans gearing up for the real action. The series recently expanded with an in-season version that started in 2021, and today, an out-of-nowhere announcement came about another expansion—with an offseason version of the series releasing on July 2: [embed]https://twitter.com/StreamOnMax/status/1790748533294780612?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet[/embed] The Giants—entering their inaugural 100th season—will be featured, and viewers will get an inside look at the team’s operations led by general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll. New York is a very interesting team to follow with quarterback questions around Daniel Jones and what they would do with the No. 6 overall pick, which was eventually used on LSU star Malik Nabers. Hard Knocks will surely give…
Following last year's successful Quarterback series on Netflix, the producers of Quarterback are moving to another position. Netflix announced that Receiver is coming later this year, following Davante Adams, Justin Jefferson, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Amon-Ra St. Brown during their 2023 journeys. https://twitter.com/netflix/status/1770087979932860735?s=20 It was widely known that Peyton Manning, a producer on the project with his Omaha Productions, had trouble finding participants for the second year of Quarterback after Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, and Marcus Mariota headlined the hit docuseries in Year 1. So, the show is pivoting to the receiver position, following four star wide receivers and All-Pro tight end George Kittle. There are plenty of storylines to watch, including Adams dealing with a frustrating season as a team with the Raiders; Jefferson missing two…
A very different season of HBO’s Hard Knocks featuring the New York Jets concluded with a positive episode focusing on the good entering a highly anticipated 2023 NFL season. Best moment: Jason Brownlee and Xavier Gipson make the 53-man roster From the start, it was clear when they were forced on that the Jets did not want to do Hard Knockswhatsoever, so the expectation was that the positives would be focused on throughout the season. The final episode, typically dealing with cuts, instead focused on two undrafted rookie receivers and good friends Jason Brownlee and Xavier Gipson making the final roster for the Jets. The way head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas did it had to be nerve-wracking for the young men, but they were extremely happy and will…
An uncommon season of Hard Knocks (we didn’t get one word about Corey Davis retiring!) continued with an episode ended by the first featured cut of training camp. Best moment: Jerome Kapp in the spotlight After undrafted rookie Jerome Kapp went viral for his performance as B-Rabbit from 8 Mile during last week’s episode—even getting a shout out from the rapper Eminem, who played B-Rabbit—the former Kutztown receiver had another segment of his own this week. Hard Knocks has been light on insight and access this year with the Jets firmly not wanting to participate, but Kapp talked with the crew and talked about what a dream it is to have the opportunity to play in the NFL—showing emotion while talking about his family and the sacrifices his parents have made for him. These are…
There has been a noticeable lack of access and insight compared to previous years, but the Jets have continued to entertain on Hard Knocks this summer. Best moment: Aaron Rodgers and Zach Wilson Aaron Rodgers has drawn a ton of praise for how he’s been on Hard Knocks, but Zach Wilson deserves some recognition as well for the way he’s handled a tough situation. It was cool to see Wilson’s teammates support him during his long run in the preseason game against the Bucs while also giving Rodgers a hard time about not being able to run like that anymore. On the bench, Rodgers and Wilson shared another genuine moment, and there seems to be a tremendous rapport of master and apprentice right now. Worst moment: The rookie show I mentioned…
While players and coaches don’t seem to want to give a ton of access via interviews and insight into meetings, the second episode of HBO’s Hard Knocks with the Jets felt more like a normal installment in the training camp series—headlined by joint practices with the Panthers. Best moment: Joint practice with the Panthers In their first action against another team, things began to get real for the Jets. Traveling to the Carolinas for a joint practice (the second day was cancelled due to rain) with the Panthers allowed for a measuring stick for the Jets. The defense was dominant, particularly All-Pro defensive tackle Quiennen Williams. But the offensive line and the offense overall struggled, which led to the honeymoon phase looking like it’s over with a very frustrated Aaron Rodgers…
The first episode of the highly anticipated Jets season on HBO’s Hard Knocks had a different feel to it—with less of a focus on football and more of a focus on entertainment. We’ll see if that was just the path for an introductory episode, but the Jets have made it clear that they did not want to be on the show. Also, it looked like stars (particularly Aaron Rodgers) took on the blunt of the camera and attention, likely making it easier on their teammates. Best moment: The Aaron Rodgers show It was interesting to get an inside look at Aaron Rodgers’ arrival with the Jets after winning four MVPs and a Super Bowl in 18 seasons with the Packers. Clearly, Rodgers has brought a different energy to New…
We are one week away from the premiere of Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets, and HBO/Max released a great trailer to build more hype for the show: [embed]https://twitter.com/StreamOnMax/status/1686406439311433728[/embed] The “J-E-T-S… Jets! Jets! Jets!” chant almost seems like it could be the backdrop of a classic HBO drama series, and while it was only a brief glimpse, it’s cool to have the show following a team with Super Bowl aspirations. Among the top expected storylines will be Aaron Rodgers in a new city, young stars with big personalities, the progression of Zach Wilson, and position battles for starting jobs and roster spots. Hard Knocks will premiere on August 8 at 10 PM ET on HBO and Max.
The Netflix sports docuseries Quarterback—featuring Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, and Marcus Mariota—has been a hit, landing among the most watched shows on the streaming giant since its release last week. Unsurprisingly, Peyton Manning told Pat McAfee that the series has been greenlit by Netflix for a second season. Now, the task is determining and convincing the quarterbacks to give open access during the season. Just about every starter could make for an interesting option, but I like these three as strong realistic options that provide some diversity while in different stages of their careers. Dak Prescott, Cowboys I don’t think other potential top well-known options like Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, and Jalen Hurts would have much interest in participating in Quarterback while looking to be completely locked in on winning a Super Bowl. (Though…
After the longest wait for a team to be announced in the history of the show, HBO will feature the New York Jets on this year’s Hard Knocks—which had been the expectation and is now official: [embed]https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1680955747557883906?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet[/embed] The longer wait for an announcement with training camp just a day away seemed to be due to a reluctance from the Jets—and other teams—about appearing on the show, but no one else volunteering locks New York into the spotlight. Of course, there will be no shortage of storylines to follow with legendary quarterback Aaron Rodgers on a new team, young stars like Breece Hall, Garrett Wilson, and Sauce Gardner having big personalities, and general manager Joe Douglas perhaps on the hot seat (20-46 record) with team owner Woody Johnson wanting a…
As we await an announcement for the participants on the 2023 season of HBO’s Hard Knocks, this week’s Top Ten Tuesday picks ten of the greatest moments from the show’s history. The focus is mostly on entertainment value with these rankings, and of course a ton of moments didn’t make the list. 10. The Buccaneers love Game of Thrones (2017) HBO took advantage of some promotion here, by making much of the post-episode credits throughout the Buccaneers’ season in 2017 include players and staff discussing Season 7 of Game of Thrones. It’s not shown in the clip below, but the players went nuts over the season finale. https://twitter.com/NFLFilms/status/892887490607984640?s=20 9. Chad Johnson’s two appearances (2009/2012) Chad Johnson is a very amusing guy, and he was on Hard Knocks twice—with the Bengals in 2009 and…
We are about a month away from training camp and still do not know which team will be featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks. Four teams that can be forced onto the show—the Bears, Commanders, Jets, and Saints—do not want to appear, and it’s become a tough situation. For reference, the Lions were announced as the 2022 Hard Knocks team last March, so we’re near three months past that announcement for this year. With that in mind, this week’s Top Ten Tuesday picks the ten most intriguing teams to appear on the show this summer among all 32 teams. 10. Carolina Panthers No. 1 pick Bryce Young out of Alabama is a highly intriguing and magical type of quarterback, and it would be nice to get an inside look at the Heisman Trophy…
On July 12, football fans will get an inside look at the lives of NFL quarterbacks when Netflix releases Quarterback—a new series that follows the 2022 seasons of Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, and Marcus Mariota. Here is the trailer: [embed]https://twitter.com/netflix/status/1668996805101514752?cxt=HHwWgMCztYzwu6kuAAAA[/embed] We won’t know exactly how deep of a glimpse viewers are given until the series actually airs, but it’s interesting that we get three very different players to follow with Mahomes reaching the football mountaintop for the second time, Cousins having a very good season but falling short in the playoffs, and Mariota eventually being benched by the Falcons. After the recent acclaim for Netflix’s golf series Full Swing, expectations should be high for Quarterback when it premieres next month.
