The Top 10 Hard Knocks Episode 9 Moments

The ninth and final episode of the "Hard Knocks" in-season series on the Miami Dolphins aired Tuesday night, three days after the team's 2023 season ended with the 26-7 loss against the Kansas City Chiefs at frigid Arrowhead Stadium, and feature the battle of overcome and injuries, along with formidable opponents and the aftermath of a once-promising season coming to an end..

We count down the top 10 moments, from this vantage point:

10. HARD KNOCKS STAR

We truly enjoyed throughout the series watching wives and family members of Dolphins players in the stands, and this time it was the wives of Tyreek Hill (Keeta) and Raheem Mostert (Devon). And what really stood out here was another Dolphins fan telling Devon Mostert she recognized her from earlier "Hard Knocks" episodes, told her how nice she came across and asked and got a selfie with her.

9. STARS ON THE MEND

A big storyline heading into the playoff game at Kansas City was the return of injured offensive playmakers Jaylen Waddle and Raheem Mostert returning from injuries, along with Hill continuing to deal with his high ankle sprain. What stood out was the practice where McDaniel repeated seemingly about each of them, "Shut it down. I saw everything I needed to see today."

8. THE SABAN ANNOUNCEMENT

The announcement of Nick Saban's retirement from the University of Alabama was big news in the football world and it hit close to home at the Baptist Health Training Complex with the Dolphins having five Crimson Tide players on their team. One of them, of course, is Tua Tagovailoa, who was shown getting the news on his phone. That led to a flashback of Tua at Alabama and his national title-winning TD pass to DeVonta Smith and the Tua-Jaylen Waddle connection from their days at Bama.

7. KANSAS CITY, HERE WE COME

Getting ready for the flight to Kansas City and getting there offered a very cool cinematographic segment, made better because it was accompanied by the classic “In the Air Tonight” — and the original version, not the reboot that's nowhere near as good.

6. THE RACE IDEA

While the Dolphins speedsters were dealing with injuries, Hill clearly had his mind on being healthy and his usually blazing-fast self when he joked with Mostert, Waddle and rookie De'Von Achane about the four of them racing for charity. Somebody then suggested calling the Race for Hunger.

5. THE TYREEK TD

There weren't a lot of highlights in that playoff game, but that one that clearly stands out is the Tyreek Hill touchdown. It also was cool to see Tyreek telling Tua before the play, "Throw it, throw it." After handing the ball to his wife in the stands before telling his teammates on the sideline, "Lean on me, lean on me."

4. THE OLD NEWCOMERS

Because of all their injuries at linebackers, the Dolphins last week signed a trio of veteran with long resumes and a lot of career sacks, most notably Justin Houston and Bruce Irvin, who joined another fairly recent newcomer, Melvin Ingram. We also got a glimpse at Ingram's personality, complete with his quip to outside linebackers coach Ryan Slowik, "We probably could teach you some sh--.”

3. WEATHER WATCH

This was the dominant topic of the episode and it came up more than once, starting with a Dolphins player simply saying, "It’s about to be cold as sh--.” We liked the weather forecast, followed by the intertwining of weather-related media questions. There were flashbacks to Mike McDaniel and his 49ers winning a playoff game at Green Bay in the 2021 playoffs and the Dolphins playoff game at Buffalo. Then there were shots of the cold clouds from players and fans and then Ingram telling David Long Jr. that he had icicles in his beard. One thing for sure, the point clearly was made that it cold.

2. WADDLE AND THE OFFENSE

The big story of the game against Kansas City was the offense's inability to generate much of anything. It led Mike McDaniel walking along the sideline and saying in his headset, "We can't do sh--t, man." The offense was described by narrator Liev Schreiber as "ice cold." Maybe the most telling comment came from Waddle sitting on the bench with his offensive teammates saying, "“Man, we can’t put up seven points, cuz. Not in this type of game. Defense did all that they could do and we just didn’t put up points. This s— is annoying as f—. We’re too talented to be doing this. If anything, defense should be struggling. They’ve got 11 new players.”

1. THE SEASON IS OVER

The most powerful stuff came at the end of the game on field and in the locker room, starting with Zach Sieler saying, “These last four years have been the most incredible four years of my life.” and then adding, "Man, this sucks. Man, it’s not how you want to go out." The postgame locker room speeches by McDaniel and Christian Wilkins also were powerful, particularly McDaniel saying, "This is what we said we didn’t want, just a taste of the playoffs. There’s championship sh-- all over this team.”