Did the Steelers Get Hosed for HBO?
Ratings, babayyy
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We could debate the merits of HBO’s decision to feature the entire AFC North in its end-of-season version of Hard Knocks this year, but we won’t. Say this much: It hasn’t been done before.
That’s because HBO and the NFL never before decided to do it, nothing more. The network and the league set the parameters for Hard Knocks, after all, and you can tell by this year’s lineup (Hard Knocks: Offseason, Hard Knocks: Training Camp and Hard Knocks: In Season) that they’re running out of ways to keep this fish fresh.
Featuring an entire division, especially one that includes longtime rivals who despise each other, does help accomplish that. It doesn’t hurt that the Ravens, Browns, Steelers and Bengals all finished with winning records in 2023.
But let’s skip the rest of the gloss and get to the nubs of it: Is Hard Knocks the reason why the Steelers’ bizarrely back-loaded 2024 schedule looks the way it does?