Top takeaways and tidbits from the first episode of the iconic HBO sports docuseries.
The latest edition of HBO’s Hard Knocks docuseries follows the AFC North during the 2024 regular season. Each week, Baltimore Beatdown will be breaking down the biggest moments and best quotes of every episode.
Setting the stage in the new AFC North
As expected, Hard Knocks introduced the AFC North by focusing on its hard-nosed, physical style of play. The show referred to Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh as “tough towns supporting tough teams, and a whole lot of bad blood,” over a highlight reel of hits, fights, and injuries from past divisional matchups.
Each coach also took a turn talking about the importance of December football, another pillar of the AFC North. But by the end of Episode 1, only two had a greater than 1% chance of making the postseason, as opposed to previous years in which three or even four teams were in the playoff hunt until the end of the regular season.
AFC North scoreboards have looked different this year, too. Four of seven divisional games have topped 50 points after just three such occurrences in 2024. The physicality is still there, but offenses are finding more ways to move the football. The high-scoring games have only amplified the importance of winning the turnover battle, which has been a significant factor in the Ravens’ AFC North matchups so far this season.
Quiet ‘Hard Knocks’ debut for Baltimore
The Ravens saw the least screen time of any AFC North team in the first episode of Hard Knocks, which primarily featured the Bengals-Steelers matchup in Week 13. Both teams’ preparation for the game received plenty of coverage, as did the game itself. Viewers also got to spend a chunk of time with Jameis Winston and the Browns on the practice field and in team meetings. The Ravens, however, received little attention. Even when they were on the screen, few of their clips featured actual football outside of the highlights of the Eagles game.
Baltimore might prefer it this way. Todd Monken called Hard Knocks a “major distraction,” per Baltimore Beatdown’s Kyle Phoenix, and the team is known for their restrictions on media viewing and videography at practice. With a bye followed by the Giants in Week 15, the Ravens might fly under the radar for another episode or two, but they won’t be able to avoid the spotlight with key divisional matchups with the Steelers and the Browns on the horizon.
Portrayal of Harbaugh does him no favors
Maybe it was the sound mixing, but John Harbaugh was noticeably quieter and less intense than his AFC North counterparts in the introduction. Mike Tomlin is known for his ferocity, but even Zac Taylor and Kevin Stefanski were more emphatic in describing the physical and mental toll of winter football.
Harbaugh was also visibly cold in one of the Ravens’ few practice clips, telling senior special teams coach Randy Brown, “I’m freezing, I’m always freezing.” Brown, ever the class act, even offered to give Harbaugh his own jacket. Harbaugh declined, but the cameras kept rolling for one more line.
“You give me your reading glasses every now and then,” added the 62-year-old before the show cut to clips of a younger Harbaugh as an assistant coach in Philadelphia and his arrival in Baltimore in 2008. There’s no denying that he is the oldest coach in the division by a decade, but with such little screen time for Baltimore, the show’s choice of clips felt a little pointed.
Ravens’ bully mindset wilted vs. Eagles
If John Harbaugh was lacking in intensity, Zach Orr certainly wasn’t.
“Smash-mouth football. That’s what its coming down to, being physical, it starts up front,” Orr said. “They think they a bully coming to town. We got to bully the bully.”
He also told his defense to “start fast, finish strong.” They accomplished the first against the Eagles, but explosive runs from Saquon Barkley followed by a nine-play, 66-yard touchdown drive essentially sealed the game in the fourth quarter.
Harbaugh doesn’t take coaching Lamar Jackson for granted
Few coaches ever get to work with a generational talent like Lamar Jackson, and that privilege is not lost on John Harbaugh.
“When I drive in and I know Lamar is in there eating breakfast and getting ready for practice, it makes me feel real happy inside,” Harbaugh said. “Lamar is unique and we’ve all known that from the beginning and I think we knew that when we drafted him. It was going to be unique, it was going to be a journey and it’s been that and so much more and so much better.”
Like most outside observers, Harbaugh thinks that Jackson has found a way to play even better than his previous MVP seasons.
“There’s another level of execution and another level of being dialed in,” Harbaugh said. “I can see it in his eyes, I can see it in the way that he carries himself, see it the way he practices, in the way that he plays. He is a believer in this team and he is a believer in himself.”
Best of the rest of the division
The Browns’ screentime mostly focused on quarterback Jameis Winston, who made sure he thanked the team’s groundskeeping crew for their incredible work in Cleveland’s snowy Week 12 upset win over the Steelers.
“I forgot to give y’all a shoutout. Y’all made that field one of the best fields to play on in that snow,” Winston said. “I appreciate y’all. You had your man swiping lines (and) blow drying the field.”
The rest of the episode focused on Week 13’s sole divisional matchup between the Steelers and the Bengals with a particular emphasis on Mike Tomlin’s coaching.
During team meetings, Tomlin challenged Nick Herbig to make an impact against Bengals left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. Mid-game, Tomlin called his own shot (“51 gotta kill Zeus…it’s what we talked about all week”) right before a Herbig strip-sack of Joe Burrow was returned by rookie linebacker Payton Wilson for a touchdown.
“I love it when a plan comes together,” said Tomlin before praising his young linebacker on the sidelines. “I’m not going to act surprised. That’s what you were brought here to do. Let’s not act surprised. That’s not a lightning strike, man, you’re built for this!”
Tomlin’s tidbits and other great quotes
The Steelers’ longtime head coach has a personality designed for television. He’s already well-known for his quips in interview with the media, and Hard Knocks proved that he brings the heat in every conversation. Here are a few of Tomlin’s best quotes from Episode 1, plus some more from around the division.
Mike Tomlin on Bengals running back Chase Brown: “We need to establish a relationship with this guy. He may not know your name today. He better know your name on Monday morning.”
Mike Tomlin on beating the Bengals: “It ain’t personal, it’s about us engineering victory.”
Kyle Hamilton when asked about his Thanksgiving plans: “What am I doing for Thanksgiving tomorrow? Uh, football.”
Browns assistant offensive line coach Roy Istvan on an upcoming matchup vs. the Broncos: “We’re not going to [expletive] Denver to go skiing!”
Tee Higgins on Joe Burrow’s new Batmobile and Batsuit: “I’d wear that [expletive] to the club.”