REVIEW: Amazon’s ‘All or Nothing’ Series
Yearly the NFL has a team participate in a behind-the-scenes reality series on Amazon Prime known as “All or Nothing“.
The show is largely produced by Keith Cossrow, a Coordinating Producer with NFL Films.
“We have to go through all of it to find little gems that can illuminate the story and that are worthy of being seen by Amazon’s audience,” Cossrow explained when discussing how the show comes about.
This year gave us a chance to get an inside look at how the Philadelphia Eagles went through the motions of an unusual season. Narrator Jon Hamm takes us through life inside and outside of the locker room for multiple Eagles players and how the season affecting everyone around them.
Episode 1
Episode one was an exact representation of the entire season. From training camp, through the pre-season, and even heading into the season the Eagles were projected as one of the best rosters in the NFL. With Wentz finally healthy and the return of DeSean Jackson on the horizon expectations were soaring through the roof. It didn’t serve as any help when the offense looked unstoppable after week one against Washington.
With Jackson scorching the Redskins defense for 154 yards on eight receptions and two touchdowns and Wentz looking like he had returned to his 2017 form, the sky was the limit for this Eagles team. Then in week two against Atlanta, it was all gone in the blink of an eye. With Jackson, Jeffery, and Goedert has gone all by the first series of the game, Philadelphia was able to get a glimpse of things to come in the future.
Episode 2
In this episode, the All or Nothing series went into detail of two things specifically. For one, just like we speculated the mistakes that we saw on Sunday, weren’t just from “pregame jitters” , there was a reason that the Eagles finished the season with 19 dropped passes.
As the sayings often say “you play how you practice” and as you saw from the Dallas Goedert cameo, drops were nothing new to the team. The second most noticeable detail from episode two was how close the team was. At the beginning of the episode owner, Jeffery Lurie spoke to the team about the importance of bonding and team chemistry.
“Talent only takes you so far, there are other good teams in this sport. You have to be able to work as a family. You have to be able to come together constantly and you have to nurture it every single day” said Lurie heading into the teams week one matchup against Washington.
That message stuck with the team throughout the duration of the season. From the little subtle comments made by Carson Wentz as players came on and off the field, to the scene of Avonte Maddox and Dallas Goedert playing with nerf guns, all leading up to how the team came together after Maddox’s injury. It should us how much the team really valued Lurie’s words.
Episode 3
When the going gets tough, the tough get going, which was the purpose of episode three. With the teams back against the wall, injuries mounting, and an upcoming stretch that saw the Eagles have to play three straight road games; six straight against teams with winning records. As Malcolm Jenkins emphasized “This game’s not for suckers” as the Eagles were going to need there best from all 53 men during this make or break the course of the season.
What stood out the most was having the chance to see Orlando Scandrick‘s point of view from what was happening in the locker room. While this wasn’t in the episode after his release Scandrick went on FS1’s Undisputed to discuss his time in Philadelphia. During his segment with Skip and Shannon, Scandrick often referred to how the Eagles were “constantly living in the Super Bowl past”, it now makes sense why. Scandrick signed with the team prior to a matchup against the Jets.
The team was coming off a big victory against a formidable playoff foe in the Green Bay Packers and had their sights set on a game against Minnesota, where the Eagles would return to US Bank Field for the first time since there Super Bowl victory. While the moment seemed so far away the memories were still fresh in the head of Eagles player, as you saw from scenes of them in reminiscence.
Episode 4
Episode four was all about the defense! Watching each storyline develop will help you grow to appreciate a lot of the members of the team. You had to feel for Jalen Mills having to sit on his couch for 365+ days, helplessly watching as he suffered from a Lisfranc injury. Watching Brandon Graham, specifically in episode four gave you a glimpse of just how important he is to the Philadelphia Eagles.
While Fletcher Cox is easily the most talented players along the Eagles defensive line, it’s obvious who the heart and soul of that unit is. The energy that Graham brings to the table is part of the reason the Eagles defensive line sets the tone for the defense, it’s a huge deal the team bought him back the last offseason.
The most important sequence, however, is realizing how little of an impact Orlando Scandrick had on the course of the season. Obviously, after being cut after the Dallas game, Scandrick could only offer the Eagles so much in terms of productions; or lack thereof. However, it was a bad beat going around that the Scandrick fiasco saved the Eagles season, not necessarily the case. While he may have added some fuel to a burning fire, but the biggest thing that happened was the team started to get healthy defensively.
Episode 5
The most excruciating thing about this season is what could have been. As we mentioned earlier, in week one DeSean Jackson had 154 yards and two touchdowns on just eight receptions. Also during the game against Washington, Carson Wentz had a total of 28 completions, while targeting eight different receivers, and seven of his eight targets had at least three receptions.
This is what I call the Jackson effect, as the only other time Wentz was able to effectively spread the ball this efficiently was against Chicago when DeSean Jackson returned. While Jackson only played in a minimum capacity, his presence was felt on the Eagles stat sheet and the Bears defensive game planning.
Jackson allowed the Eagles to methodically pick you apart in the short/intermediate game. If you took Jackson away, allowing Ertz, Goedert, and Jeffery room to work the Eagles would quick game you to death. If you eliminated the others like Washington tried to, Jackson was there to beat you over the top. It’s crazy to think about it but the entire Eagles offense was predicated on the overall presence of DeSean Jackson, and while the team did a decent job of overhauling the offense in Jackson’s absence. It still leaves a bad taste in your mouth knowing what could have been.
Episode 6
In terms of a football perspective, this might have been the hardest episode to watch. The title “under pressure” was quite fitting as it seemed the Eagles’ entire season was crashing down around them. With three straight losses, one of which being to the 2-9 Miami Dolphins, the playoffs seemed unlikely and the reality of how this team should actually be perceived was starting to set in.
It was only fitting when Brandon Graham and Jason Kelce were seen coming off the field having a conversation about the state of the team currently. While Graham had a valid point; the team was missing a number of key players. Kelce‘s point of the team needs to execute better and veterans needing to step up were spot on.
In a bright spot of the episode, it was great to see the Eagles put an emphasis on allowing Brandon Brooks to be open and honest about his anxiety attacks. As we know Brooks has battled with the attacks for a while and it has cost him to miss free games, most notably the Seahawks game during the regular season. Sometimes we tend to forget that these athletes are humans too.
It’s more than understandable for a person to feel obligated to show the world they are worth the big contract they signed and it’s even more understandable that it may take a toll on you mentally. It was great to see Brooks attack it head-on and hope to see him remain in a better space and place for the foreseeable future.
Episode 7
This episode allowed us to see everything as it came full circle for the Eagles.
First, we got to see the importance of Josh McCown to not just Carson Wentz but to the coaching staff in its entirety. From him being in Doug Pederson’s ear suggesting play calls to him constantly shadowing Carson Wentz after he came off the field. McCown was certainly instrumental to the Eagles’ success down the stretch. They introduced the “stars” of the practice squad unit that were phenomenal down the stretch of the season. Watching how seamless the transition was for Greg Ward and Boston Scott from taking scout team reps, to being released, to becoming key contributors was amazing.
Lastly, the most important takeaway from episode seven was how we got the chance to see Carson Wentz mature right in front of our eyes. It seems like an eternity ago when the questions surround Wentz, his leadership, and the type of teammate he was were swirling. Seeing how well-liked he was amongst his teammates and how much confidence they had in Wentz was huge. It should have reinstalled confidence in everyone, despite all he has been through over the years, this is clearly Carson Wentz’ team.
Episode 8
BURN THE SHIPS! In the season finale of All or Nothing, we saw many of the team veterans speak about what “Dallas Week” means to them. Starting with DeSean Jackson who got straight to the point “F*ck Dallas, we hate Dallas.” Honestly speaking the vibe is felt throughout the city, we all understand none of us are fond of the Cowboys, but this just shows how much Jackson is the embodiment of a Philadelphia athlete. We all think it, some of us say it, but the significance of the person that said it speaks volumes.
However, the main event of this episode was the speech heard around the world by Zach Ertz. This was the tone-setter, as DeSean Jackson said during the episode “If you need any extra juice to get pumped for this game this ain’t the city for you.” With that being said the “Burn the Ships” speech acknowledged the fact that there was no turning back for the team. Yeah, a loss to Miami hurts when you think about it but the playoffs were still in sight. But lose this game and the season was over and the fact that Ertz got hurt and return despite the circumstances shows just how much that moment meant to each man in the locker room.
Even after the team defeated Dallas the sense of urgency wasn’t a loss, the team headed to New York fully understanding the opportunity in front of them and the job at hand. however the team loss Brandon Brooks and Miles Sanders to injury during the contest. This was only a sign of things to come; even though the team won there were only so many soldiers that can fall before war becomes unwinnable. While Sanders returned for the game against Seattle.
The most important piece to the puzzle went down as Carson Wentz was taken out by unnecessary hit by Jadeveon Clowney. It still unfortunate to know that the NFL didn’t punish Clowney or that the Eagles chances just about died at that moment. Let’s take a moment to tip the cap for Josh McCown who left it all on the field… even a hamstring.
Featured Image: All or Nothing
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