The NFL schedule release showcases teams' creativity through entertaining videos, featuring themes from the Chargers' 'Halo' to the Raiders' 'Step Brothers' skit. Fans eagerly anticipate these productions as part of the spring calendar.
Key points
NFL schedule release is a key event in the spring calendar
Teams' social media units create entertaining videos
Videos feature celebrity cameos and high production values
Fans have high expectations for creativity and humor
Once free agency and the NFL Draft come and pass, there's one last event to look forward to on the NFL's spring calendar: the schedule release.
Finding out the order of each team's opponents, including where and when they'll play their 17 regular-season games, is part of the fun — but at this point, the schedule release is more known for its opportunity for all 32 teams' social media units to shine.
From celebrity cameos and video-game style clips, to involvement from NFL stars and high-end production, fans have built sky-high expectations for creative and humorous schedule release videos. This year was no different.
While the Los Angeles Chargers' social team met their high expectations by subtly poking fun at plenty of opponents, other teams, like the Los Angeles Raiders and Tennessee Titans, also found creative angles to their schedule release — while others, like the Bengals and Lions, didn't go beyond much of the basics compared to their peers.
Q&A
What are some of the best NFL schedule release videos this year?
This year's standout videos include the Chargers' 'Halo' theme and the Raiders' 'Step Brothers' skit.
How do NFL teams create their schedule release videos?
NFL teams utilize high production values, celebrity cameos, and humor to engage fans in their schedule release videos.
Why are NFL schedule release videos important for teams?
These videos allow teams to showcase their creativity and connect with fans, enhancing their social media presence.
What can fans expect from NFL schedule release videos?
Fans can expect a mix of humor, creativity, and high production quality, often featuring NFL stars and popular culture references.
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The Chargers are like the LeBron James of NFL social media teams. They've created extremely high expectations for themselves over the years, especially through the lens of the annual schedule release videos — L.A. has always impressed fans with the way its videos mix creativity with humor, light-hearted digs at its opponents and plenty of Easter Eggs.
Once again, the Chargers didn't disappoint. After using a "Minecraft" theme last year, the team kept it to video games in 2026, using "Halo" to run through each of the team's 2026 opponents with countless Easter Eggs and jabs.
Most NFL fans came into the schedule release almost expecting the Chargers, who face the Patriots this coming season, to find a way into the Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini controversy that has dominated offseason headlines. Of course, the social media team obliged, appearing to be the only NFL team who included some kind of Vrabel-Russini joke by including a sign that read "Next Photo Dump: 1 mile," referencing the consistent leaked photos of the coach and reporter recently, along with a "message" from the New York Post, which had the original report on Vrabel and Russini's alleged relationship.
Of course, there were many other hilarious Easter Eggs within the Chargers' "Halo" theme, including "Brady Cam" watching over the Raiders, the Chiefs' customizable characters having "Free 4" shirt options and "Zebra Armor" as a dig at their arguable referee favoritism, Puka Nacua appearing on a live stream, a recreation of C.J. Stroud's infamous "teaching" moment with Caleb Williams, the Ravens' "Pass the Physical" challenge making fun of their failed Maxx Crosby, and plenty more.
Nobody makes fun of their opponents every May quite like the Chargers.
The Chiefs went with a throwback-themed schedule release video — and if your goal is to be funny, including Rob Riggle is an extremely safe bet.
Kansas City's 90s-style "Info-mercial" had plenty of fun moments, only benefitting from Riggle's hilarious tone as he and his fake ex-wife quibble throughout their sales pitches. Some of their opponent-themed items being sold included the Seahawks' entire franchise — which remains up for sale — going for just $20, an "indestruct-a-bill" table for the Bills week and a cameo from Donna Kelce.
Not only did the production and graphics give it an authentic throwback feel, but the creative aspects also shined through the "Info-mercial" memorabilia.
Las Vegas Raiders
When the Raiders agreed to a deal with Kirk Cousins this offseason, NFL fans everywhere couldn't help but notice all the similarities the veteran carries to his new counterpart in the quarterback room. Cousins and Fernando Mendoza aren't just elite pocket passers — they also have two of the more chipper, upbeat personalities across the league.
In the Raiders' schedule release video, they played into those similarities perfectly by convincing Cousins and Mendoza to film a "Step Brothers" style skit that saw them awkwardly become closer — from their exchanged nicknames of "Kirko Chains" and "The Nandolorian," to them becoming "best friends," the two quarterbacks were the perfect candidates to remix the Will Ferrell-John C. Reilly duo.
The Raiders even made sure to get a full "Step Brothers" photo shoot from Cousins and Mendoza that became wallpapers for fans.
Any time an NFL team can get approval from a famous video game or cartoon to use its style/animation for a schedule release video, it tends to turn out great. The Colts became the first to utilize "The Simpsons."
In a custom intro for the legendary show, instead of Springfield, the show cuts into Indianapolis, with Easter Eggs like a Jonathan Taylor statue, Krusty Burger fries being cooked in "Lucas Oil," and after facing criticism in 2025 for making a joke at the expense of a previous Tyreek Hill legal situation, the Colts included Bart Simpson writing "We will not include Tyreek Hill in these videos" on the chalkboard.
According to Front Office Sports, the Colts "secured the creators, illustrators, and voice actors of The Simpsons to produce an original animation." That effort alone for the NFL schedule release deserves a top of praise.
The actual "schedule" portion of the video uses real clips from the show as a nod to each week/opponent — had the full video included new Easter Eggs and jokes, this may have been the best schedule release video of all. But it was excellent regardless.
Tennessee Titans
The Titans didn't use any flashy production or cameos for their video. Instead, they went all-in on humor, having a team member walk around an find "look-alikes" for famous figures associated with each of their 2026 opponents.
Of course, about none of these random people in the video actually looked like their celebrity comparisons. It was short, sweet and funny, which is about the best a schedule release video can be.
In fairness, the Cam Skattebo guy did have some facial similarities. The Makaulay Caulkin-Joe Burrow shot was also an added bonus.
If you've ever seen a "This is SportsCenter" commercial, where star athletes and faces of ESPN would bring random sports aspects to business activities, that's what the Falcons replicated — and it was executed perfectly.
Atlanta included a short series of "This is Falcons Football" commercials, with the first highlighting Matt Ryan's recent career shift. Ryan, who became Atlanta's president of football operations, opens the schedule release video by screaming at his employees to "get f---ing set!"
Other hilarious "This is SportsCenter" twists include an employee struggling to pronounce Bijan Robinson's name, Jesse Bates III "picking off" an office pen and Drake London picking up phone calls for "receptions."
A "bad" NFL schedule release video is typically just one that doesn't get fans excited for the season in any fashion — it's not funny, creative or unique. The Bengals' schedule release video was simply too straightforward.
With a voiceover moving through each matchup on the schedule and highlighting some of the storylines, there wasn't anything too notable to come from Cincinnati's video.
One portion of the video also takes a dig at the Ravens, Browns and Steelers for hiring new head coaches this offseason, while Cincinnati's identity is said to "never slip." Someone may want to inform the Bengals that one more missed playoff berth could cost Zac Taylor his job, too.
As schedule release videos have become so prominent, there's a possibility of going to over-the-top. No fan is realistically going to sit down and watch a schedule release video for over 7-to-10 minutes.
So, even if the Eagles' idea was fine, having Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and others have a "meeting" where they reacted to each week's opponent together, it was far too long: 14 minutes in total.
Despite a decent idea, the execution was off — nobody wants a 14-minute schedule release of players chatting and just saying "hmmmm" after each opponent is unveiled.
Apologies to the Cardinals, but I did not even know they had a mascot named "Big Red." So having that mascot appear in a fake Zoom meeting alongside other NFL mascots to unveil each opponent felt a bit strange — unlike a league like MLB, the NFL doesn't have many very famous mascots.
To many fans' dismay on X, the schedule release video also appeared to have utilized AI in some capacity.
The idea wasn't terrible, but between using silent mascots just moving around on a screen, a lack of humor and the AI component, it didn't strike the tone Arizona may have wanted.
At least the Lions were honest about their schedule release video: there was nothing special. Intentionally, Detroit released a 30-second clip that shows Dan Campbell putting the 2026 schedule on a clipboard, followed by a message: "Strictly business."
Maybe it would have been cooler if the Lions won a Super Bowl last season. But for a team that went 9-8 and missed the playoffs, it was boring and felt uncreative, not doing much to get fans interested. After all, a social media team's schedule release video doesn't have to reflect the mentality of the football team.
