On Tuesday December 3rd AFC North Hard Knocks debuted on HBO/Max. The NFL reality series featured the entire AFC North Division this season. This gives fans an inside look at the operations and preparations of the Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Baltimore Ravens. Episode 1 shows each team’s preparation for Week 13 of the NFL season.

Much of the episode was heavy on the Steelers visiting the Bengals game. This was because both teams are in the AFC North and the game was played on the previous Sunday at 1pm. The Ravens played the Eagles later that afternoon in Baltimore. The Browns traveled to Denver for their Monday Night Football matchup that week. For the episode to air on Tuesday night most of the coverage was for the early Sunday game with division rivals playing each other. Most interesting was the preparation that was covered during the week with Thanksgiving taking place.

The episode featured the Heyward brothers on the Steelers. The elder brother Cam is a longtime veteran defensive tackle for Pittsburgh. Connor Heyward is 11 years younger than his brother and plays tight end for the Steelers. The episode showed the leadership of elder brother and the dynamics of the relationship being both teammates and siblings. Having an older brother myself, I could easily relate to it. It was also interesting to watch the head coaches speak to their respective teams.

The Hard Knocks Show had cameras in the meetings with head coaches speaking to their teams in preparation for their next game. I noticed that they all sounded similar, but not the same. If that makes sense? Every coach focuses on being positive and taking on the schedule one game at a time. The coaches emphasize on going 1-0 for the week. Having the coaches wearing microphones for the week and on the sidelines for the game was interesting too. Although the language can get salty, if you are a fan of any of these teams you should check out this show. I found it entertaining and I think other fans will too.