Football
The NFL released the 2026 regular-season schedule on Thursday and, along with it, 32 team-produced videos that bring the fun (and occasional drama) to schedule release night.
Familiar heavy hitters such as the Los Angeles Chargers and Tennessee Titans continued to impress, while other teams, including the Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland Browns, redeemed themselves after past videos that missed the mark.
As for the most popular crack this year, that would be the San Francisco 49ers’ electrical substation, with five of their opponents using their video to take a shot at the electromagnetic field that has fueled conspiracy theories about the team’s recent injury history.
The Athletic’s Jayna Bardahl reviewed all of the NFC teams, while Saad Yousuf handled the AFC as they joined forces to rank all 32 videos.
Football 1. Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers have set the standard across the league for schedule release videos and this year was top-notch once again. The Halo theme allowed for so much potential and the execution did not disappoint, with Easter eggs popping up left and right to support the main act for each team. The Colts aren’t even on the Chargers’ schedule, but they caught a stray right off the bat with a Microsoft permission disclaimer. The main menu alone was elite, replacing team names with disses, such as “soft tissue graveyard” for the 49ers, “operation zero coverage” for the New York Jets and “cupcake circuit” for the New England Patriots.
For the Week 1 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, there was a dig at the quarterback situation and defense, as well as head coach Matt LaFleur (a “coaching model resemblance error”) and former coach Jonathan Gannon. All of that happened in a span of three seconds, so if you blinked, you missed it. Against the Seattle Seahawks, the Pike Place replica was for sale. The Kansas City Chiefs game had a “Free Rashee Rice” T-shirt reference, among other things. There were multiple digs at Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, who was photographed at an Arizona adults-only resort this offseason with NFL reporter Dianna Russini, formerly of The Athletic. The 49ers’ practice facility conspiracy wasn’t safe, either. The list could go on forever, but this one is not only worth your time, it requires your full attention and a hand on the pause/play button.
should we REALLY make our schedule release video in halo?
yes yes yesyes
yesyes yes yes yes
yes yes yes yes yes
yes yesyes yes yes
yes yesye yes yes
yes yes yesyes pic.twitter.com/eusK9QmNGd— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) May 14, 2026
Football 2. Tennessee Titans
The man-on-the-street approach, if not done right, can look like a low-effort approach. However, the Titans nailed every part of it. They have plenty of individuals who sort of resemble the opposing team characters, including Eagles security chief Big Dom DiSandro for the Philadelphia Eagles, Cam Skattebo for the New York Giants and, perhaps one of the best, Fernando Mendoza for the Las Vegas Raiders.
They also had a few hilarious contrarian finds, such as someone who is simply wearing a Cleveland Browns Myles Garrett jersey but has no resemblance. The elderly-looking Jerry Jones find was great, especially as Jones is the owner of America’s Team and the guy they found was from the UK. Showing Macaulay Culkin as the actual picture of Joe Burrow was also a nice touch. All of that in under two minutes. Greatness.
You never know who you’ll see on the street @Shift4
NFL Schedule Release Show 5/14 on @nflnetwork at 7PM CT pic.twitter.com/uddftsZab2
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) May 14, 2026
Football 3. Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks’ cologne-advertisement theme is perfectly mysterious and weird, just like my favorite fragrance commercial. “Parfum de Seahawks” makes you “smell like a champion,” while the video presents the less desirable fragrances of Seattle’s opponents. The 49ers fragrance, “Substation,” shocks you when you reach for it. The Eagles’ “Tush Push” fragrance comes in a bottle shaped like … just what you think it would be shaped like. The Rams’ “Conversion No. 2” smells of melancholy and “what the hell just happened,” while the Dallas Cowboys fragrance is named “Nostalgia 96.” This was simply clever and fun to watch. And, of course, included a quick Lombardi Trophy cameo.
Smells like football season. Our 2026 schedule is here.
Get your tickets now » https://t.co/yxNNnRledd pic.twitter.com/mDTMaxJ6Ua
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) May 14, 2026
Football 4. Indianapolis Colts
It never hurts to add some self-deprecating humor. The Colts’ social media team did that right off the top in its “Simpsons”-themed video, marking the 2025 schedule release video as a “tire fire,” which led to another layer of the same storyline with Bart writing about last year’s schedule release mistake repeatedly on the chalkboard. The media team even took that approach for the football team, noting it has been 4,252 days since the Colts defeated the division rival Jaguars in Jacksonville. There were a few quality shots at opponents, too, including the rowdy Philadelphia crowd and “boring” Browns team.
D’OH! another schedule release video! @TheSimpsons pic.twitter.com/7rc9zyo2pv
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) May 14, 2026
Football 5. New York Giants
Jameis Winston brings all the energy as Winston Van Gogh. With Giants tickets on the line, Winston challenges fans to a game of Pictionary, where they have 15 seconds to guess the opponent based on his drawing, which Winston scribbles onto a whiteboard worn by offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor. Winston’s first sketch for the Eagles was a questionable Philly cheesesteak, but he redeemed himself with a decent drawing of the Eagles logo the second time around. The best part about this is how the humor is organic between Winston and the fans. You don’t have to overthink it.
Winston van Gogh draws up the 2026 Schedule 🎨
Tickets on sale now 🎟️: https://t.co/ysuYTbX1ly pic.twitter.com/yIYaJGTZhr
— New York Giants (@Giants) May 14, 2026
Football 6. Los Angeles Rams
The “Napoleon Dynamite” theme was well-executed and creative, with a few good jokes sprinkled throughout. They award their crosstown rival, the Chargers, with a certificate of achievement for the best schedule release. The 49ers substation is referenced with a book titled “The Electromagnetic Field” written by Dr. Nothingburger. And inside Dallas’ wallet is a card for a curtain company “when the light is too bright.” While some videos diverged from the actual “schedule release” part of the night, the Rams’ video was in order and on-theme.
A Dynamite schedule. pic.twitter.com/5BnNs0ZGpw
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) May 14, 2026
Football 7. Cleveland Browns
The retro Street Fighter arcade vibe was a nice touch, both inside the room and in the games. There was also opponent-relative verbiage sprinkled throughout as the schedule was being announced. On a football note, it was interesting that Shedeur Sanders was the only quarterback mentioned in the video, and he was referenced three times as opposed to zero for Dillon Gabriel and Deshaun Watson.
Introducing Street Fighter: CLE!
🕹️ 2026 Schedule Release pic.twitter.com/aFvc1vMGKx
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) May 14, 2026
Football 8. Dallas Cowboys
The Tyler Intelligence Agency (made up of Tyler Booker, Tyler Guyton and Tyler Smith) meets to plan its takeover of the 2026 schedule. Undercover Tylers are assigned to each opponent with top-secret spy missions to distract and destroy the team. In Los Angeles, intel points toward Sean McVay’s post-draft news conference in which he seemed unenthused about the first-round pick of QB Ty Simpson (whom the TIA says they’ll “make a full Tyler soon”). And for the Tennessee Ty-Tans the mission is to “change absolutely nothing,” cue Cam Ward’s … honest … interview clip. This was a bit long at 8 minutes 21 seconds, but I did like the chemistry between the T.I.A.
every mission from our schedule release video 🗂️#DallasCowboys | @SeatGeek
📺 NFL Schedule Release tonight at 7pm CT on @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/Vi5rUNUJb3
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) May 14, 2026
Football 9. Atlanta Falcons
This riff off the old “SportsCenter” commercials had great commitment from president of football (and former QB) Matt Ryan and new head coach Kevin Stefanski, along with a few players. Bijan Robinson eases a coworker’s nerves when deciding to pronounce his name “Bee-John” or “Bih-Jahn.” Drake London is fighting for receptions (as in answering calls like a receptionist). And Jalon Walker has “too much dog in him,” so he keeps barking around the office. Great star power from inside the building and awkward moments that made for good laughs.
This is Falcons Football: 2026 Compilation pic.twitter.com/JWM7ip9xoW
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) May 14, 2026
Football 10. Minnesota Vikings
Kicker Will Reichard sits down at a fancy restaurant (drink of choice: purple Gatorade) with AEW star Chris Jericho as his waiter. Reichard asks for the 17-course meal, which includes a Green Bay Packers cheesehead board, “as nice as it gets … over there,” a Chicago bear claw with “frosted paws” and Buffalo wings mafia with “table-breaking flavor.” But my favorite joke was the self-deprecatory one. “Any allergies?” Jericho asks. “No, just cables and camera wires,” Reichard says. Reichard missed a game-tying FG attempt last October when his on-line attempt took a sharp turn wide right, which some thought was a result of it hitting the camera wire.
Serving up 17 courses. We’ll take them all.https://t.co/IcZACQxP0Q pic.twitter.com/VLPqBiJCdS
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) May 14, 2026
Football 11. Denver Broncos
There was a solid mix of self-deprecating humor, particularly from the Peyton Manning angle. The first television commercial was for a medication for “fanxiety,” while Manning has done commercial spots for Tylenol. Manning also criticized Bo Nix for being in too many commercials, which was funny considering the source. Calling out the Chiefs fan for being a bandwagoner was funny, as was Aqib Talib’s chain bit against the Raiders, calling back to when Talib yanked a chain off of former Raiders wide receiver Michael Crabtree.
Football 12. Chicago Bears
We have our second player-turned-painter schedule reveal with wide receiver Rome Odunze as Bob Ross. In contrast to the Giants’ Winston Van Gogh, this one is calmer, and Odunze does a great job acting the part. He adds details that nod to the Bears’ opponents and to add texture to the trees, Odunze uses — you guessed it — a cheese grater. “Isn’t that satisfying?” Odunze says while he grates the canvas. The most entertaining part is how much Odunze leaned into the role; he was perfect. Of course, there’s a “good, better, best” reference too.
Football 13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Baker Mayfield calls in Tampa Bay Watch in this “Baywatch”-themed reveal starring comedian Bert Kreischer. Kreischer and his crew take over the beach, stomping on the Carolina Panthers’ sand castle, cutting the line of the Falcons’ kite and splashing the Detroit Lions, Vikings and Packers with the wake of a jet ski. Again, the schedule wasn’t revealed in order, but that seemed to be more of a theme this year.
Football 14. Washington Commanders
Running back Jacory Crosky-Merritt got the nickname “Bill” when he was young. In the schedule release, that nickname comes into play as he hosts the “Commanders Science Fair” as Bill Croskey-Merritt, The Science Guy (a la Bill Nye). The displays are shown pretty quickly, so I needed to pause a few times to understand the projects. My favorites were the Colts project, which was “removed for unauthorized jokes,” in reference to the team’s 2025 schedule release video that had to be taken down, and “Bald Out at Titans,” with the hypothesis “If you become a member of the Tennessee coaching staff, then you will become bald.” The conspiracy theory board for the 49ers’ “Substation Gate 2026” was the perfect fit for this theme.
Football 15. New York Jets
Some would say that watching the Jets in recent years has been as exciting as watching paint dry, so mixing different paint colors to create the color of the opponent to reveal was fitting. Jokes aside, one can appreciate the effort to be creative and do something different, even if it wasn’t exactly riveting content.
football is ART (craft blend)
your 2026 Jets schedule reveal 🎨 ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/lV7PTzbc8O
— New York Jets (@nyjets) May 14, 2026
Football 16. Cincinnati Bengals
A strong voiceover is a safe path to give chills, but there were some solid opponent zingers mixed in as well, from calling the Miami Dolphins a “clean house” to saying the Baltimore Ravens “can’t back out of this one” to needle them for the nixed Maxx Crosby trade. The second Ravens reference was a “ball drop” on New Year’s Eve showing Lamar Jackson fumbling the ball against the Bengals. That play actually ended with a Jackson touchdown pass but we’ll let it slide. It wasn’t flashy but it was a pleasant watch for a couple of minutes.
Football 17. Houston Texans
Brian Cushing is one of the most iconic players in Texans history, and the picture of his bloody face in a game from his playing days is one of the most iconic photos in team history. Having Cushing read through the schedule as the inflection in his voice gets more and more intense was solid, though this one might hit home more for Texans fans than the wider NFL audience.
Football 18. New Orleans Saints
Local meteorologist Margaret Orr leads a weathercast around the country to each of the Saints’ opponents because “in New Orleans, we know a few things about tracking storms,” she says. In Atlanta, Orr points out the Falcons’ eight-season losing streak as putting the city under a “decade-long choke advisory,” and in Tampa Bay, the Bucs are experiencing “extreme highs and lows the same day.” As someone who spent a short time in Cincinnati, I also liked the Skyline Chili callout that seconds as a Bengals dig: “It does look better from a distance, not unlike Skyline Chili.” The video is a little slow, but bonus points for the fun appearance from former “Today” show host Hoda Kotb in the beginning!
Football 19. Philadelphia Eagles
I was skeptical going into this one because it clocked in at 13 minutes and 59 seconds. Jalen Hurts, Jordan Mailata, Saquon Barkley, Jihaad Campbell and Jordan Davis sit around a conference table opening envelopes to reveal the schedule and react in the moment. There were plenty of “ohs” and “mms” with generally a lack of emotion throughout that hurt the unfiltered feel they were going for. If you stick with it, you’ll find a few good moments. When they learn about the Pittsburgh Steelers, Campbell asks if they still have Aaron Rodgers, to which Hurts shrugs and says, “Who knows?” I also smiled at Barkley, trying to keep track of the days they play. “We play on a Saturday and then a Thursday?” The caption “Today’s meeting could NOT have been an email” might be true. But a shorter video? Most definitely.
Football 20. Kansas City Chiefs
The QVC angle selling products for each team on the schedule has potential, but aside from a few moments of throwing shade, there wasn’t much here. The quality of content could warrant a couple of minutes, but going over six minutes on this one was a bit much.
The ’90s called. They want their schedule release back. pic.twitter.com/Gzc456uPbC
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) May 14, 2026
Football 21. Las Vegas Raiders
It was fitting to center the video around Fernando Mendoza and Kirk Cousins, not only because they are quarterbacks and arguably the most notable draft pick and free-agency signing for the team this offseason, respectively, but they are also two of the more fascinating personalities on the team. The skit was solid, and referring to “Step Brothers” is always a winning formula, but it didn’t really contribute much to the schedule release part of the assignment.
Football 22. Detroit Lions
The Lions come in with this year’s shortest video: 33 seconds (which this writer appreciates). It’s intentional, too, with their “Strictly business” theme. Audio clips of Lions doubters play in the background while Dan Campbell gets up from his desk to post the Lions schedule on the bulletin board. Focused and simple, albeit forgettable.
Football 23. New England Patriots
This was just playing it safe. Everybody knows it’s hard to say anything negative about cute dogs, but 90 seconds of dogs chasing props with a very basic one-liner voiced in the background is pretty meh. Saying the Broncos were a yard short — a nod to a first-half fourth-and-1 attempt in the AFC Championship Game last season — was a decent zinger. (Update: The Patriots actually produced two videos — sorry, we missed the first one — which feels a bit like cheating. But the roller-coaster version wasn’t much better.)
Football 24. Carolina Panthers
The Panthers collaborated with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department bomb squad to blow up a stuffed bear, a toy horse, a string of Terrible Towels and the rest of their opponents. It got old, fast, and looks more fun for those there in person. I did like the touch of pressing the button without the bomb going off for the bye week.
Football 25. San Francisco 49ers
I thought the 49ers were about to take a “Full House” theme, but I was underwhelmed that it wasn’t. In honor of the Niners’ 80th season, the video takes us on a house tour through the decades that sprinkles their opponents’ objects in each room. I do appreciate the nostalgia, but think it could have been executed better.
Football 26. Buffalo Bills
The first two minutes of the four-minute video was a drag, but Josh Allen’s idea midway through about a giant chrysalis was actually not terrible. It felt like they could coordinate butterfly colors with opposing team colors, or something even slightly creative. Instead, there was a giant chrysalis while a barbershop quartet sang the schedule out for 48 seconds. There was potential for something better, but the end product was a mess.
A GIANT CHRYSALIS.@ticketmaster | #GoBills pic.twitter.com/jOSGK48tX5
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) May 14, 2026
Football 27. Pittsburgh Steelers
This is a solid commercial for the city of Pittsburgh, with the language and food quips. However, not sure that it really has anything to do with the assignment of releasing a schedule. They finally get to the regular season slate at the very end, but overall, this video could have been released any other day of the year and held the same value.
Football 28. Green Bay Packers
The Packers’ use of claymation was cool, but other than that, this video confused me. There was nothing about the team’s schedule or opponents; instead, Jordan Love, Josh Jacobs and Tucker Kraft destroy cheese curds at an arcade. Maybe mini mascots of their opponents would have made for a better battle (or at least more on-theme for schedule release).
Football 29. Miami Dolphins
Kudos to the Dolphins for the plot twist, turning what seemed to be a fairly mundane request to players to see “Mr. Ross,” aka team owner Stephen Ross, to actually visit Rick Ross — who has Miami roots — in the office. Although it’s a fine social media video, it had no elements of schedule release creativity. A screenshot of the schedule was simply displayed at the end.
Football 30. Jacksonville Jaguars
There was some chatter earlier in the offseason about a picture of Trevor Lawrence without his trademark locks, but that turned out to be fake. The haircut done for the release video was real. A two-minute video of Lawrence getting a haircut while the schedule plays on the screen doesn’t get many points for creativity, but given how much Lawrence’s hair is part of his image, and thereby part of the Jaguars’ image, we can give some credit for doing something. The real joy came from the internet opinions on who Lawrence looks like post-haircut, which ranged from fictional characters such as Lord Farquaad from “Shrek,” the Weasley twins from “Harry Potter” and Chad Powers to real people such as Ellen DeGeneres.
Football 31. Baltimore Ravens
What does an NFL player crashing a wedding have to do with the release of a team’s regular season schedule? It’s not just that this was a bad attempt at the assignment, it felt like this wasn’t even an attempt at the correct assignment.
Football 32. Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals used AI to bring together a Zoom meeting of the mascots. I found it hard to keep up with the chat while also watching the mascots interact on camera. Some highlights include the Chargers going offline when their mascot is called out for not being real (the Chargers don’t have a mascot), and the Raiders’ mascot stalking quarterback Fernando Mendoza on LinkedIn during the ending clips. But overall, not my favorite.
Read More Arden Roberie