As is the case with the NFL's schedule release itself, team videos on social media touting the new schedules used to be afterthoughts at best... and now, they're a Really Big Deal.
The people who put those videos together don't know the actual order of all the games until about a day before we do. They know the opponents, of course, but there's a frantic rush to get everything done from there to press the big red button at 8:00 p.m. EST.
“You do all this prep work,” David Bretto, the Los Angeles Chargers’ director of creative video, recently told Sports Illustrated. “It’s kind of like standing on the edge of a cliff and you’re about to jump off, you have a parachute, you have everything you need, you’ve prepped as much as you can, but you’re still at the edge of that cliff with your legs shaking. It’s nerve-wracking.”
The best of these projects can make major waves. The gold standard is unquestionably the Tennessee Titans' 2023 schedule release video, when the Titans' team went on Broadway and asked people on the street to identify Tennessee's opponents based on their logos alone.
The results were awe-inspiring..
The Atlanta Falcons had no choice but to bend to the hilarity.
So, now that we know what the 2025 NFL schedule will be, which team videos topped the charts this time around, which organizations should have re-thought their processes, and which were generic enough to not generate a mention? (Hint: They're not here).
## Yes: Various Seahawks players roasting their opponents' mascots
Likening the Arizona Cardinals to "a flock of lost pigeons?" Ouch!## Yes: The Titans mocking big pharma ads
The side effects disclaimers at the end, in which Tennessee's opponents are suitably scraped, are the highlight here. Not quite the Broadway show from two years ago, but a solid effort.## Yes: The Ravens experience "Severance"
Well, someone on the Ravens' video team really loves the show "Severance," because this seven-minute schedule clip goes deep — and suitably weird.## Yes: The Falcons ride on "ATL KART"
This spoof of Mario Kart gets two thumbs up from us just for the animation work. Top-notch. Now, if the artists involved can just re-create the pre-2024 version of Kirk Cousins...## Yes: The Chargers do it again with Minecraft
Few social and video teams get the assignment better than the Chargers' from year to year, and this Minecraft replication shows a bunch of people putting in a lot of work.## Yes: The Packers give us a Josh Jacobs dreamscape
Quite psychedelic here, as Packers running back Josh Jacobs goes through a weird dreamscape to find the lost schedule, and is eventually awakened by Lil Wayne. At least it's different, and there are actually some funny moments. .## Maybe: The Bears go Full Metal Fargo... but where's the schedule?
Actor Lamorne Morris, who is awesome, is tasked to e-mail the Bears' 2025 schedule to new head coach Ben Johnson, who is apparently away doing some Cubs activities. Instead, Morris e-mails the confidential schedule to every Ben Johnson on the team's mailing list. The resulting hilarity is good, but we have to deduct points for a less-then-detailed schedule rollout.## Maybe: The 49ers head out on the "Golden Trail"
It wouldn't be a 49ers schedule release video without a Gold Rush motif, and this Oregon Trail spoof is pretty good. And hey — at least nobody died of diphtheria.## Maybe: The Rams go all "Not Necessarily the News"
A decent and well-formed newscast spoof, but am I the only one missing actual humor so far in these?## Maybe: The Browns get their Photoshop degrees
I enjoyed this short reveal video from an artistic perspective, as it reminded me of when I used to draw pictures of Joe Montana and Lyle Alzado when I was a kid. But the better drawing here would have been the faces of Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry right after Shedeur Sanders was selected in the fifth round. A definite missed opportunity there.## No: The Raiders give you a look inside their facilities.
This light-hearted tour of the Raiders' building is well-thought out, if not actually funny.## Maybe: The Bills recruit the real AI
Not a lot of production value here, but any time you can get Allen Iverson in the building, that's pretty cool. And no, we are not talking about practice.## No: The Lions give a "meh" tour of Detroit
Kind of a "D" for effort here, with a perfunctory tour of Detroit's main legacy spots, and helmets on stands. This would have been much better with Dan Campbell mainlining espresso shots while banging his head Cliff Burton-style to "Master of Puppets," and announcing the entire schedule in his best doom-metal voice.## Maybe: The Buccaneers have a Gruden Reunion
Bucs coaching legend Jon Gruden announces his old team's 2025 schedule in his own enthusiastic style. Just... don't check the e-mails.## No: The Broncos engage in rodeo shenanigans
I'm not really sure what the point of this Uniquely Broncos Main Event brag is — a rodeo in Colorado is hardly unique — but as David Lee Roth-era Van Halen used to proclaim before going out on tour, "Hide Your Sheep!"## No: The Steelers find a beast in the wilderness
I'm not sure the whole Cam Heyward as Bigfoot thing really resonates, but it's better than Steely McBeam.## No: The Bengals go low-budget, and is anybody surprised?
It's one thing to create a farce of your franchise's rep for throwing nickels around like manhole covers, as Mike Ditka once said of George Halas, if it's not factually correct. But when you are the NFL's most skinflint organization, and have been for decades, this seems like quite the self-own.
Maybe re-sign Trey Hendrickson and try again.