For many non Oakland Raiders fans, this season of Hard Knocks left a lot to be desired.

Those who are die hard members of Raider Nation, myself included, loved the show. It gave us fans a behind the scenes look and an opportunity to get to know the various personalities on the team.

I, like many other Raiders fans, paid super close attention to every second of the show. But for non-Raiders fans, it was flat out boring.

And that’s a huge win for the Silver and Black.

The reason it was boring is because the Raiders clearly put a lot of barriers in the way of the HBO crew. While teams don’t get a say in whether they are on the show, they do get a say in what gets aired.

In some years, like with Cleveland last offseason, the HBO staff gets almost too much access. And that leads to great ratings.

This year, the Raiders did a good job of limiting what HBO was able to show and by doing so, they were able to control the narrative.

Many were hoping to see a dysfunctional franchise that would provide them with plenty of opportunities to mock. Instead, viewers saw a well oiled machine where everyone appeared to be on the same page.

Whether or not the image portrayed on Hard Knocks is accurate doesn’t matter. Maybe the Raiders are still a team mired in turmoil. The point is, regardless of what the truth may be, the Raiders decided what the story would be.

I understand why non Raiders fans didn’t love this season of Hard Knocks, it was a win-win for The Nation. We were entertained and got lots of behind the scenes looks. All while the Raiders controlled the Hard Knocks story in a way no team has done before.

The season hasn’t even started yet and the Raiders already have a win in the books.