We hav🍬e our first Delay of Game penalty of the season!
HBO took their sweet time releasing Episode 2 of Hard Knocks on Max, though congrats to any non-cord cutters out there – the episode aired on HBO right at 8:00 PM when it was supposed to.
Despite the delayed start, it was still a really solid 50+ minutes of television. I would have loved to see the urgent emails/texts/slack messages going around from about 8:00 PM – 9:30 PM between the people responsible for getting that episode up on Max, that must have been hectic.
Let’s get to the episode.
Hard Knocks Ep. 2 Highlights
The show started with Jonathan Owens recapping his trip to Paris for Simone Biles’s historic Olympics. I just can’t get over how impressive Biles’ rope climb was, that was absolutely insane.
I’ll be honest, I enjoy Blues music and a trip to Kingston Mines as much as the next guy, but the opening with the quick practice clips set to the music didn’t quite hit as much as last week. Having said that, Caleb Williams getting the Michael Jordan intro treatment was always going to be tough to top.
The game-week prep that followed might have had my two favorite moments of the show. First, Ryan Poles and Ian Cunningham are watching Caleb’s film in Poles’ office. Poles mentions that Caleb looks better this week, and Cunningham simply says “he knows he’s playing.” The best show up when the lights get brightest, and even though it was just a preseason game, it was cool seeing QB1 up his intensity another notch.
In the WR room, receivers coach Chris Beatty is telling the WRs the plan for playing time against Buffalo. Beatty tells them that the ones will probably just have a series or two, and are only guaranteed the second series if there’s a three and out on the first. After he says “if there’s a three and out” the camera cuts to DJ Moore shaking his head no. Then in the game, Moore goes out and makes the play that prevents the three and out on third and long. Cool foreshadowing.
It’s pretty wild the effort and energy that goes into the quarterback and head coach getting to be familiar with the officiating crew. Also still kind of nuts that those referees are full-time employees elsewhere. Going from high school AD in Seattle Mon-Fri to being the head official for a Bears/Bills preseason game in Buffalo on Saturday is wild.
I know it might get in the way of training camp, but by 2028 Caleb Williams and the Bears should have at least two Super Bowls, if he wants to be the QB for Team USA’s flag football squad and live out his dream, let’s let him get that Gold!
I’m glad we got a little bit more of a Rome Odunze spotlight in this show. We didn’t get too much of him last week, so and his interaction with the high school players were cool to see. Rome just seems like a really good dude in addition to an outstanding receiver. Caleb & Rome just sound like a duo that’s going to set records and win titles together (no YOU’RE getting over-excited about two rookies from a documentary!)
All of a sudden HBO has me a lot more invested in the final running back roster spot than I thought I’d be. We got a little bit of a look into the position battle between Velus Jones Jr and undrafted free agent Ian Wheeler – both in practice as well as their game reps against Buffalo. It’s pretty awesome that Wheeler is just heading to medical school too whenever his NFL career ends.
Both of those running backs can straight-up FLY. Both found the endzone in the win over Buffalo. It ultimately might come down to whether or not Velus can hold onto the football, which isn’t something he’s been able to do during his time here.
As long as Theo Benedet is present at Halas Hall, I want him to get a moment in each episode of Hard Knocks. The dude is electric.
We got a Mark Grote sighting!
I’m happy we got to see a little bit into the WR/DB camp battle, but more specifically Jaylon Johnson and Keenan Allen. I know it’s camp, and I know they’re teammates, but Keenan Allen speaking as highly of Jaylon Johnson as he did was something that stood out. As does, obviously, how well Johnson has played during camp. Going up against Allen, DJ Moore, and Rome Odunze on a daily basis is going to make the secondary even better as will those WRs going up against those DBs.
I’m not sure how I’ve never been to the Museum of Ice Cream before, but I really need to get there ASAP. That said, hard pass on the hot dog sundae.
The rest of the episode was a big montage of the preseason win over Buffalo. While we saw some cool Caleb clips, you can check them out and a few other standout Bears performances with more in-depth breakdowns here.
I know they’re just highlights, and I know it’s just one preseason game, but Austin Booker has me excited. He picked up 2.5 sacks in a variety of ways. He’s got strength, speed, and a motor that just does not stop. And being just 21, he’s still raw and has a lot of room to grow. He’s got the tools to be a long-term answer opposite of Montez Sweat. Maybe not just yet, but I think we’ll continue to see those flashes from him this season. That size, speed, and high motor are things you can’t teach.
Austin Reed and his parents have been fun “end of the episode” subjects. His parents during the games have been fantastic to watch. They just feel your prototypical football parents reacting and cheering on their son that you’d see at a Friday night Fenwick vs Providence game, except we’re just seeing them at Highmark Stadium for Bears and Bills.
Velus Jones Jr fumble alert! But seriously, if he’s fumbling kick returns he’s probably not long for this roster.
At the end of the episode, Josh Allen was coaching up Caleb Williams on how to draw more flags toward the end of plays. Please take that advice, Caleb.
Matt is from the Chicagoland area and has been working in Chicago sports since 2015 with sto🐈ps at WGN Radio, the Chicago Blackhawks, Stadium, and NBC Sports Chicago prior to landing at Betsperts. Matt covers just about everything for🤪 Betsperts and Bleacher Nation but focuses on the NHL and college football.
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