Colts to be on New In-Season Version Of HBO’s Hard Knocks

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by Brylok

Only bad/struggling teams appear on that show. So we're officially bad/struggling now? Good to know...

I think you’re looking at this the wrong way. It’s true that the preseason version of Hard Knocks usually focuses on struggling teams, and their efforts to improve during the preseason when hope is still alive and anything technically remains possible. Fans are starved for football at that point, so they are drawn to the show even if they aren’t fans of the team being profiled.

By contrast, this is an in-season version beginning in mid-November, just as the playoff race is really heating up. Football will be everywhere, so to draw interest HBO needs a team with drama. I’m guessing that HBO chose the Colts because they expect them to be in the thick of the playoff race, but not so dominant as to make a playoff spot a foregone conclusion. There would be very little drama in covering the Chiefs, for instance, and very little interest in following a team already out of the playoff race by that time like, say, Jacksonville or Detroit are likely to be. Add in the controversy surrounding the Wenz trade, the hot-button vaxxing issues plaguing the team, and some colorful characters like Irsay, Nelson, Leonard and even lesser players like Blankenship and Strachan, and the show should be interesting even to non-Colts fans.