A warning: this article is not, unlike everything else on this site so far, going to center on ball-knowledge.
I joked to my colleagues ahead of the day itself that schedule releases are the gender reveals of football, and I stand by it. They exist just to create an arbitrary point of celebration of something we don’t care that much about, at a time that is well before the thing that we’re all actually waiting for, and the thing that you’re revealing is subject to change later down the line.
But if they’re going to exist, at least teams’ social media teams can have fun with them. It is, after all, the offseason, and team media can (and should!) be unfetteredly optimistic about how good the teams in question can be — they don’t have to worry about striking the wrong chord by making something fun or cheery for a fanbase going through a rough season, they can chirp all they want at rival accounts without worrying about their team being embarrassed on the field, etc.
There are other places that have recapped the best examples of such videos over the years — the most enduring one is probably the Titans’ Broadway Street interviews. What makes the best ones great, though? First of all, they have to do the job. And the job is portraying the teams on the schedule in a creative way that ties into an overarching theme. Ideally, they do so in a sequential order that implies, if not outright states, the order of the schedule, but I can make exceptions for videos that are just about a team’s relationship to the rest of the league, as it were. The job is not to make a video that has a schedule tagged to the end, but to use the schedule to make something.
Most, but not all, of these videos want to be funny. In those cases, I don’t think it’s enough just to be funny – lots of things are funny. The Titans’ video is hilarious because of how it’s edited and because of the completely unearned day-drunk confidence of the many tourists filmed, but it really stands out because of how much it evokes a particular image of NashVegas Nashville. I’m not asking every schedule release to have a sense of place specifically, but they’ve got to give me some sort of reason for why they exist and how they pertain to the team that posted them. The Los Angeles Chargers, for example, get a lot of praise for their entries yearly, and they’re very well-made videos – but they always give me the sense that they only exist for the sake of being cool. That’s not the worst reason by a long shot, but it’s also not the best.
So, without further ado, let’s rank the 32 videos that NFL teams created and released for their 2025 schedule reveals. It goes without saying that all rankings are subjective and I mean no hate or disrespect to anybody involved in creating these; they’re all pretty sick creative works.
“You Had One Job” Tier
I’m putting these teams at the bottom of the list not because these are necessarily the worst videos, but because they don’t fulfill the assignment, which is integrating the schedule into the concept of the video. It’s hard because I genuinely like a number of these, but they fail to justify their existence as schedule release videos rather than just everyday content.
32. Houston Texans – The “whazzaaaap” gag has not withstood the test of time, and grabbing a bunch of celebrities to do it with barely a mention of the Texans or the schedule makes this video feel dated and derivative.
31. Cincinnati Bengals – I like a good after-credits video as much as the next guy, but this one doesn’t really go anywhere. I’m getting some Italian neorealist inspiration from the shot distance and length of the single take, which is pretty neat. But without the actual bones of a movie, there’s not much of a reason to keep looking at it. I liked that the schedule rolled as the credits in the beginning.
30. Philadelphia Eagles – Look, I understand that as the current Lombardi Trophy holders, you should be able to a) flaunt the trophy, and b) pretend you’re on another level from everybody else. I’d still like to see some effort and personality. In the words of an iconic Youtube comment, go girl, give us nothing.
29. Chicago Bears – Here is where we start getting to the videos in this tier that I enjoyed. I love Lamorne Morris and it’s great that the Bears included him, and the riff on how common a name “Ben Johnson” is was pretty funny! It feels like it would’ve been really easy to tie each game on the schedule to a Ben Johnson instead of simply doing the occupational gags they did. This would easily have been an upper-half qualifier if it had just done the job.
28. Buffalo Bills – It’s an obvious joke, but low-hanging fruit can taste just as good. Plus, as a certified LLM hater, I will always get some joy out of seeing their use rejected. They got a chuckle out of me with the way they chose to address the “why Buffalo instead of Philly” elephant in the room, but I wish they could have gotten more out of Iverson than simply holding a piece of paper with the schedule on it. I will not comment on Josh Allen’s shorts.
27. Jacksonville Jaguars – The “morning routine” video is a pretty solid pull, as far as viral phenomena from the past year go. The Jaguars get bonus points for actually getting the guy to recreate his video, but then again, it would also have been very funny to see a Travis Hunter or Brian Thomas, Jr imitating him. I just wish we could have seen every team on the schedule snuck into the various moments shown, rather than the smattering we got.
26. Denver Broncos – This would’ve been top-10 for me if it had committed fully to the bit and represented all 14 opponents instead of the 9 that I counted. I would not have gotten tired of seeing these children fall off of sheep nor of the state fair announcer’s bad puns – that’s just a classic piece of humor and the rodeo feel is an obvious tie to the team name.
25. Carolina Panthers – The Panthers’ production folks are sometimes prone to overthinking things like this, and I think this video falls into that bucket. It’s a funny joke for players to have misunderstood “secret schedule meeting” as a scheduled meeting for sharing secrets, and there’s probably more player personality in this video than in any of the others, which is a big win. Unfortunately, the schedule and the video end up completely divorced from each other.
24. Baltimore Ravens – I’m genuinely impressed at how much and how well Baltimore committed to this recreation of Severance. It’s surprisingly well-acted and directed with some verve and a real love for the show. It’s a much higher-concept reference than these videos tend to provide, and I really appreciate that. This video desperately needs editing, though. Running at nearly 7 minutes, even the schedule references that do make it in get lost in everything else that’s being done here.
“Do Less” Tier
These are probably actually the worst videos of the bunch – none would rank higher than 24-ish for me in terms of enjoyment. But they at least accomplish the assignment.
23. Cleveland Browns – I think my main problem with this video is how it looks – halfway between AI slop and an acid trip, into the deepest parts of the uncanny valley. Additionally, nearly every game on the schedule is shown out of order and it’s quite disorienting.
22. New England Patriots – Six minutes, unedited, of Dave Portnoy yapping and bloviating as he goes through the schedule, offers up mild insults for the teams on it, and brags about how the Pats are going undefeated with all the energy of a Galapagos tortoise. Even for people who enjoy his content more than I do, I can’t imagine that this is the way they’d want it delivered.
21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Jon Gruden is a more engaging presence than Portnoy, has made a new media splash recently with his film reactions, and it’s cool that he has an anecdote for every team, so this beats the Patriots’ entry in the same genre. But running at 11 minutes long, this video needed to be much more aggressively edited. It wears out its welcome pretty quickly.
20. Indianapolis Colts – This one is maybe not all the team’s fault; as their first video, a Minecraft parody, was quickly deleted – either because somebody else had the same idea or because of some controversy about a joke in poor taste. As far as the backup video, I like a good player interview – but asking them questions where it’s impossible for them to know the answer is bad trivia and doesn’t leave us room to be surprised. The art is quite cute, which earns a few points.
19. Green Bay Packers – Maybe this is user error, but I’m just not really sure what I’ve just watched.
18. Pittsburgh Steelers – Props to the media team for a genuinely unique idea, and to Nick Herbig and Keeanu Benton for carrying the video with just their presence for six full minutes. I don’t know that it fully lands, and the team references are breakneck for a video that’s this long. The payoff, particularly, is pretty underwhelming. But on pure audacity, this certainly moves me.
“Mission Accomplished” Tier
Teams in this tier did what they had to do but didn’t really elevate the concept, at least to the extent that those in the final group did.
17. Miami Dolphins – This is a phenomenally animated piece of work. The praise mostly stops there, though, as there isn’t much substance to this video beyond a simple hype message. It’s at least notable for being one of the few entries that doesn’t try to entertain.
16. New York Jets – Maybe this would hit harder for me if I understood the reference. The infinity drawing is a cool concept and the dry humor of the narration elicits a few chuckles, especially because they’ve pulled some decent chirps for the other teams. I have a feeling that this is better than I’m rating it.
15. Detroit Lions – It’s a well-shot, dynamic tour of Detroit that lists the teams on the schedule in order. A nice little video.
14. Tennessee Titans – As pharmaceutical ads have reached their most ridiculous, it’s the perfect time to parody them. It’s a little clunky, but it’s a tall task to sound like one of these ads without sounding too much like one of them. The banners with the schedule itself, combined with the well-timed side effect narration, give this one some punch and rewatchability.
Genuinely Great Tier
These last 13 videos get unreserved thumbs-up from me: they are creative, feel like a part of the team and/or city, serve as schedule releases events, and maybe even have a little extra something special.
13. Washington Commanders – The easiest way to score points on the Internet with these things is with retro video game aesthetics, as we’ll see further down this list. Washington’s Roller Coaster Tycoon-inspired video is less successful for me than most, but it’s still great. Some of the details in the built environments are downright scathing.
12. New Orleans Saints – The Obama “Anger Translator” sketch is one of my favorite Key & Peele bits and it makes total sense to be adapted for the nonsense that is NFL coachspeak – that’s a genuinely inspired idea. In execution, it does feel very much like a relic of the previous decade. The schedule rolling on the bottom-screen ticker is a nice touch.
11. Atlanta Falcons – This video is so good, and so tailored to my micro-generation, that it breaks my tiers. I don’t know that we see every opponent Atlanta plays this year, but the Mario Kart theme appeals to me so much and is so well-executed that I couldn’t put it in the 20s. The courses being a mix of classic MK stages and Atlanta cityscapes is an incredible touch. Had they found a way to get all 14, this is an easy #1.
10. Las Vegas Raiders – The office tour is a solid if unspectacular concept, and they build in some good bits: Penn and Teller with the magic flags for the Chiefs, a creative interpretation of the Tush Push for the Eagles, and a callback to the infamous index card were some of my favorites. With this many non-professionals, it’s unavoidable but true nonetheless that the acting is… uneven.
9. New York Giants – I love when these videos reference artifacts that seem as far afield from football as Love Island does. Seeing the ridiculousness of something like this reminds us how unserious our own fandom actually is – it’s all entertainment, at the end of the day. The Giants’ team have absolutely nailed the energy of a dating show promo in a way that feels very New York, and while the bits are mostly pretty low-hanging, you already know how I feel about that. The joke at Jayden Daniels’ expense is pretty novel, though.
8. Los Angeles Chargers – Apparently, three teams wanted to release Minecraft-inspired videos, and the Chargers’ is the only one still standing. It’s easy to see why: the attention to detail and effort put into this video are jaw-dropping. The opponent team references are very funny and unique. I’m probably underselling this one just because I never got into Minecraft, but I do also think it runs a little long.
7. Dallas Cowboys – The Cowboys apparently hosted a day-long stream of their players just hanging out that contained Easter eggs for all of their opponents, which is an impressive commitment. The subsequent payoff video looks like a good time and has some of the player personality that you don’t often get from team media.
6. Kansas City Chiefs – This homage to Cash Cab feels like an elevated version of that Titans’ Broadway Street video. The fans and influencers here aren’t as laugh-out-loud funny as the people the Titans found, but there’s no small entertainment to be found in these people who kind of know what they’re talking about but aren’t die-hards or experts. It scratches the same itch that players being interviewed about Pokemon or their favorite Taylor Swift songs does, but with a new presentation.
5. San Francisco 49ers – Yet another video with retro video game inspiration, this is my favorite of this year’s bunch. The Niners are well served by not leaning any one game too hard, with a name that evokes Oregon Trail but footage that more evokes a whole host of 90s RPGs. The team-based barbs are current and hilarious with great attention to detail. This is only not higher because retro video games are starting to get overdone – but I doubt any future entries can beat this one.
4. Arizona Cardinals – I am pleasantly surprised to report that Mack Wilson Sr. has legitimate bars! It is a tough ask to cram both 17 team names, whether the games are at home or away, and some sort of reference to the teams or cities all in as little space as he’s given, but he makes more than a credible effort and sounds pretty solid on the mic. He does sound like a Southern rapper more so than a West Coast guy like I’d want from a team out west, but I’ll give the Cards a pass because it’s a player rather than an established artist.
3. Seattle Seahawks – I really appreciate that Seattle found a retro aesthetic that is not video games and yet still feels timeless with this GI Joe commercial-inspired schedule drop. The requisite energy is absolutely brought, and even though the teams pass by almost too quickly to process, that’s part of the format they’ve chosen so I can’t really complain. The chirps are quality and the video direction is sublime.
2. Los Angeles Rams – Man, the NFC West cooked this year. I’m so glad the Rams took advantage of Brenda Song’s viral interview moment in this way rather than just treating her like a local celebrity – in this Daily Show or late-night format, both her charisma and genuine ball knowledge are allowed to shine. We all wish we came across like this when we talk about the teams we like.
1. Minnesota Vikings – If I had participated in this, you would not be able to get me to shut up about it. The setting of a tattoo parlor might not be unique, but the statement about the Vikings’ fandom sure is. The tattoos look fantastic, and I’ve never been a huge fan of American Traditional ink. Kudos to everybody willing to participate, to the artists, and to the team for coming up with a concept that is unique and that will, at least in one way, last forever. These fans really are going to be part of the team for life, and that’s such a cool thing to make happen with this event.
