Hard Knocks with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers finale review

Heading into this week's “Hard Knocks” season finale, the 53-man roster for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was already known.

The first and only cut this training camp occurred over last Saturday.

The trick for the HBO series was personalizing a select few of the players we've gotten to know over the past five weeks when this season debuted.

From the beginning, the cameras focused on rookie linebacker Riley Bullough as the underdog player to cheer for to make the final roster.

Ultimately, Bullough was cut and signed to the practice squad.

Cameron Lynch outplayed Bullough in the preseason finale to earn the roster's last linebacker spot.

Jeremy McNichols getting cut was already known. Him wavering on the Bucs' desire to add him to the practice squad, and ultimately eschew Tampa Bay for the San Francisco 49ers was a little surprising in how HBO captured it.

They showed McNichols agreeing to Tampa Bay head coach Dirk Koetter's request, but then opting against it even after showing up to One Buc Place on cut day.

Then there was Bobo Wilson, who left for his home of Miami to test the front office and coaching staff's patience.

Wilson was cut but got himself back to Tampa in the nick of time to make the practice squad.

Finale noteworthy moment

The best moments for Tuesday's finale came during the credits. There were some hilarious outtakes, which involved talking about dealing with roaches in the bottom of the cereal box as a kid. The looks on the other players taking it in was funny.

Speaking of that ...

Season top moments

Quarterback Jameis Winston's childhood home visit during the season premiere gave viewers some top quotes as it related to the cockroaches on the porch steps.

That episode also featured a cameo of rapper Snoop Dogg, who acts as a coach/mentor figure for McNichols.

Gerald McCoy was also a strong presence throughout the series, and his super hero man cave was impressive.

It's 2017. Comic books are in. Super heroes are cool. And McCoy is one of the more genuine nice guys around.

When Jon Gruden made an appearance to interview top Tampa Bay players for a preseason broadcast, he was flanked by Rex Ryan. The former Jets and Bills head coach provided some nice insight in wishing he had a quarterback as talented as Winston. If he did, he'd still be an NFL coach, Ryan said.

Missed opportunity

For whatever reason, we didn't get a glimpse at all of the star Bucs. The show, of course, is built around introducing viewers to the rookies or other players that aren't expected to make the team.

That underdog approach means the cameras can grab a guy that could eventually become a star.

See Danny Woodhead during the Hard Knocks with the New York Jets season as an example.

However, there just wasn't enough name recognition. Kwon Alexander was a guy that most fans probably missed seeing focused on this season's show.

That said, “Hard Knocks” was still good and it's end means one thing: the NFL is back.

The regular season opens Thursday.

This story was originally published September 6, 2017 at 12:23 PM with the headline "Hard Knocks with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers finale review."