Newsletter: Hard Knocks is Coming, and the Impact of In-Game Adjustments

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The last time the Cleveland Browns were featured on Hard Knocks, in 2018, too many absolutely absurd things happened to recount all of them in this space. Some of the highlights include: Hue Jackson greeting a pissed off Corey Coleman with “What’s up, sports fan?”, Todd Haley hanging upside down in an anti-gravity chair, and a very uncomfortable staff meeting about players getting days off from practice.

You don’t need me to remind you of the disaster that season became, and how HBO’s cameras pointed its unflinching lens at the organizational dysfunction during the summer that foreshadowed it. Jackson was fired in October, Gregg Williams took over as interim head coach, and the Browns ultimately hired Freddie Kitchens the following season.

Narrator: That did not work out!

The Browns broke Hard Knocks that year, in a way. The access HBO had, both in terms of what its cameras captured and what made it to air, was immense, giving a relatively uncensored look at an NFL franchise on the verge of collapse. Unsurprisingly, other NFL teams took notice. The next five franchises to be featured after the Browns, the Raiders, Chargers, Colts, Lions, and Cardinals, all felt like course corrections. Those seasons were mostly fluff, shying away from showing the controversial moments behind closed doors that defined that Browns installment. It wasn’t until the New York Giants opened the doors to their GM’s office and gave HBO what felt like unfettered access to an offseason that included letting Saquon Barkley walk that Hard Knocks resembled its old self again.

Hard Knocks returns on Tuesday, December 3rd, and the Browns return with it. The in-season iteration of the show, which began with the Colts in 2021, follows the entire AFC North this time around, and there is no more juicy storyline than what’s happened to the football team by Lake Erie this season. But with three other teams to feature, and the fallout from the Giants giving access to things they probably wish they hadn’t, how much of a meaningful look into the halls of Berea will we really get?

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The question around Hard Knocks has always been how much say the team or teams being featured have in terms of where the cameras can go and what gets shown on television. The NFL, at the end of the day, is an entertainment product after all, and there’s nothing more entertaining than watching a team owner say something like, oh I don’t know, “I’ll have a tough time sleeping if Saquon goes to Philadelphia” to his GM. The league benefits from attracting the most eyeballs it can, and if that means promoting drama like an episode of Vanderpump Rules, then so be it.

But the Browns situation is a bit more complex. Does the NFL really want to remind its paying customers of Deshaun Watson, who has been relatively invisible since suffering his season-ending injury? Do the Browns get any control over what’s shown when it comes to weekly discussions about the horrific play of its quarterback, or the conversations that led to Kevin Stefanski giving up play-calling, or what, exactly, it is Paul DePodesta does? Or will the team simply exist as a vehicle for the NFL to promote NIck Chubb’s comeback story, or Jameis Winston’s hilarious day in the snow?

Hard Knocks works best when it’s acting as something of a public service, entering rooms fans aren’t allowed into and recording conversations fans aren’t allowed to hear. For a Browns franchise that has been incredibly secretive about its day to day since Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski arrived, and has taken that secrecy to another level in 2024, HBO has a chance to give the public a much-deserved look into how the decision makers in Berea have navigated the objectively disastrous trade for Watson and the ensuing fallout. But with three other teams competing for air time, and the NFL’s desire to protect its bottom line, will we be shown anything that matters?

I’ll be tuning in Tuesday to find out. Now over to Jake for some football scheme talk.

The topic I have been meaning to hit on before the end of this extended mini-bye week is the topic of in-game adjustments and the fact I think the Browns defense is finding some solutions quicker than in previous weeks. At least that was the case in the TNF win over the Steelers.

During the opening series, on 2nd and 12, the Steelers rolled out a trap scheme paired with orbit motion (behind the quarterback) to put the run concept into better numbers. It hinged on the Browns being in their predictable man coverage look and influencing it based on that look. Here are the details on the initial 15 yard run.

Then the Browns adjusted. Anytime they noticed the Steelers’ offense going with Cordarrelle Patterson on the field, or if they got the pre-snap 3x1 with a nub tight end (inline, in a three-point stance, solo side) they got out of man coverage matching and went full zone to reap the benefits of more eyes on the backfield.

Watch how much better suited they are to handle that same trap scheme from earlier in the game.