I am not a conspiracy theory guy, but sometimes things just don’t add up. When the NFL released the regular-season schedule, we were puzzled about why the league decided to backload it so much for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Steelers play all six of their AFC North matchups in the final eight games with showdowns against the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles thrown in for good measure.
Crazy, right?
Maybe not. Maybe it was all a plan. HBO is doing something unprecedented with their “Hard Knocks” docuseries as they will feature all of the AFC North, including the Pittsburgh Steelers, in the in-season version of the show. It begins on Dec. 3 and runs through the end of the season.
Why does this matter? This will mean the series will show the Steelers during the final five games of the season, which includes one game against each of Pittsburgh’s division foes, and those two games against the Eagles and Chiefs.
Was this all orchestrated so HBO gets one of the most popular teams in the NFL during what could be a spiral after a strong start? These shows are all about ratings, and it feels like a behind-the-scenes look at a struggling Steelers team would translate to huge viewership.
