The title says best and worst, but it is more like the best and the “eh.” Most are not terrible, and I see where the social media team was going, but the result was lackluster. A good schedule release video is creative, funny and clear. There are some teams that didn’t release videos at all and settled for pictures or a schedule graphic.
The Best Schedule Releases
Chargers
The Chargers social media team is elite. The internet will eat up anything Sims related, and this is also a perfect medium for releasing the schedule. The video has so many hidden team and NFL culture references for fans to go crazy for. The Reesa Tessa multi-part TikTok story playing on the TV for the Atlanta matchup and the board that says “We do not care” during Steelers week are both great, and the credit scene showing Aaron Rodgers with an alien baby and Harrison Butker in the kitchen solidified the top spot.
Titans
The Titans are working with what they got. What they know works, and what they know is Broadway street interviews. The formula works. Clueless drunk people trying to not expose how little they know on camera.
Jaguars
The old school comic theme is a cool visual, and it helps tell a story while giving out the schedule. While it’s not the most unique idea, the re-imagination of the opposing teams into villains puts it above the other teams’ superhero comic videos.
Chiefs
Maybe there are some that are unaware of the hydraulic press videos that have taken over, but the Chiefs social media is all over it. It’s a satisfying niche, and the Chiefs team does it well. They have items representing the opposing teams that vary from squishing nicely to harsh cracking. A simple, creative idea topical to internet trends and a clear schedule presentation.
Patriots
The Patriots are a classic rival to Giants fans, but I’ll give them props. The Good Will Hunting video theme makes sense to the region, and Edelman plays Will Hunting well. The schedule being used as the math equations was a clever way to incorporate it into the video.
Dolphins
I like it simply because it was so fast and simple. A quick little scene with Tyreek Hill and the schedule zips by. It kind of shows up all the bad videos because it was quick, simple and effective.
Eagles
The Eagles have so much content to work with that it would be criminal if they put out a bad video. The Rorschach test was clever and the inclusion of super fans in the video adds a nice sentimental touch.
Browns
Peter Weber may not have anything to do with the Browns, but it doesn’t really matter. Weber’s “Who do you think you are? I am” is quoted and referenced frequently across the internet, especially the sports side of the internet. Weber’s cameo is the highlight of the video, but the clever inclusion of the schedule throughout the bowling alley keeps this video out of the “eh” section.
Vikings
I would like to put the Vikings’ video under the worst mostly because they present the schedule out of order, but the content makes up for it. The skits to reference each opponent are fun, and it is a classic schedule release video. There isn’t too much production with simple jokes about your opponent with quick pacing. Just put it in order.
Cowboys
The video takes on the FaceTime trend, but with a script. I almost didn’t even watch the whole video because I exited the first time as soon as I saw Jake Paul. Once you get past Paul, the video is good. The FaceTime calls are to people relevant to each opponent, and they have funny “reactions” to the Cowboy group calling them. At first they seem like genuine reactions, but then you realize it’s scripted and I don’t like that.
The Worst Schedule Releases
Lions
Maybe I’ll think Tim Robinson is funny in another context, but I did not think this video was funny. I was expecting more of a skit video like the others, but it was more of a quick stand-up and then just a slow roll of the schedule at the end. I cracked a bit of a smile, but not enough.
Bills
Pictures are not going to hold up well against video content unless they’re really good. The Bills’ Lebron schedule release pictures are not really good though. What does Lebron have to do with the Bills? There’s barely any humor in the pictures either. It’s just Lebron wearing the team logo. Lame.
Falcons
It’s so boring. I get the concept of going on an errand run, but the tasks don’t relate to or reference the schedule. The schedule is just put on the screen at random during different errands.
Saints
I’ll give the Saints a little bit of a break because they did post about hiring a new social media manager recently. Pictures don’t hold up well against the videos being released by other teams. The photo collage is cool, but it doesn’t work for social media today.
Bears
The skit video needs to done well in order to be a good schedule release video, and this is not one of those. The schedule is announced out of order, and it wasn’t funny. It felt like an informational video they make you watch in school. They get credit for the movie references being related to Chicago like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and The Breakfast Club.
Packers
The Packers social media team basically did the same thing the Giants did. A non-funny pre-release video and just a boring graphic of the schedule. The fans are asking for a new social team in the comments and the Packers account is active in those comments. That’s where the real fun is at.
Giants
Only releasing a schedule graphic is so lame. No pictures or any fun references, just the schedule. The worst schedule release.
My condolences to the rest of the teams that didn’t make the list in either category. They are now forever subjected to “eh” purgatory until next season’s schedule release. Some teams were so close to having a good release. The concept was there, but the execution just didn’t have an impact.