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The NFL’s 2026 schedule release—and its social media teams’ creative Super Bowl—came and went on Thursday night, with the league unveiling its 272-game slate in style.
Through a surplus of calculated “leaks” from its broadcast partners, the NFL announced a handful of marquee matchups and a record nine International Series games throughout this past week before allowing its 32 teams to unveil their schedules in full through what’s become all the rage in recent years: social media videos.
RELATED: How Schedule Release Day Became the NFL’s Creative Super Bowl
From some outstanding attempts to go viral to a handful of duds, here are our winners and losers from the NFL’s schedule release videos.
Winners
Chargers
After years of being the proverbial North Star for these highly entertaining reveals, the Chargers did it again in 2026. Between jabs at Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and NFL reporter Dianna Russini, a recreation of C.J. Stroud’s attempt to “big bro” Caleb Williams, and a chirp at the Ravens for backing out of the Maxx Crosby trade, Los Angeles continues to bring the heat on schedule release day.
10/10. No notes. –Mike Kadlick
Raiders
The Raiders put their two new quarterbacks, Fernando Mendoza and Kirk Cousins, center stage for their schedule release video. Inspired by the beloved movie Step Brothers, the two signal callers displayed some rather impressive acting chops. “Kirko Chainz” and “The Nandolorian” quickly went from skeptical strangers to best friends, watching highlights of their new teammates together on the couch, discussing their favorite football plays and even measuring their… hands.
Incredible stuff from the Raiders. –Karl Rasmussen
Titans
The Titans’ success at creating schedule release videos has been overshadowed by the Chargers’ greatness in the art, but they pulled off another stellar one this year. Tennessee executed a twist on their asking random people on the street to guess NFL logos by finding lookalikes on the street of people they’re facing this season. Come for the Big Dom doppelganger, stay for who they put side-by-side with Myles Garrett. –Eva Geitheim
Colts
The Colts turned to Springfield for their Simpsons-themed schedule release video, parodying the theme song and finding the perfect clip from the show for each of their opponents in 2026. Best of all? The Colts were afraid to make fun of themselves, having Bart Simpson write on the chalkboard “we will not include Tyreek Hill in these” after depicting Hill getting arrested in last year’s video which they took down and apologized for. They also poked fun at their own losing streak in Jacksonville, which has gone on for 4,252 days. –EG
Bears
A Bob Ross-inspired schedule release video featuring Rome Odunze and his voluminous afro? It's hard to go wrong there. Odunze, in Ross-like fashion, painted a beautiful picture of Chicago’s 2026 schedule. This was no happy little accident—it was a brilliantly executed schedule release video, and Odunze was a joy to watch as he crafted the full picture of the Bears’ opponents. –KR
Losers
Cardinals
Unlike most teams’ schedule release videos, the Cardinals leaned all the way in on the AI trend. It didn’t land. The fun of these videos is the creativity and humor that goes into it. Arizona’s video lacked both of those aspects in a big way. A conference call between AI-generated mascots and a fake text chain of painfully unfunny jokes made for arguably the worst schedule release in all of the NFL. –KR
Chiefs
The Chiefs united the internet earlier this week—in all the wrong ways. A couple days before the schedule release, theChiefs depicted all of their opponents as various kinds of sourdough in a nod to Taylor Swift’s love of making the bread. The posts did not land, with both fans and haters of the team agreeing that it was a major miss. Thankfully, this was not the final product, as the Chiefs officially released their schedule with a 90s infomercial-style video. –EG
Jaguars
While Trevor Lawrence’s decision to apparently cut his signature blonde locks is sure to make waves on social media, the actual execution of the Jaguars’ schedule release video will not. Jacksonville bypassed the chance to get creative and instead played it safe, showing a barber trim the star quarterback’s hair for two minutes while they flashed the logos of each opponent on their 18-week slate. –MK
Jets
To go along with their zero prime-time games in 2026, the Jets decided to just … mixed colors (?) to unveil their opponents for the upcoming campaign. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no artist, but this felt like a lazy attempt to get into the social media game. Boring is an understatement, but it’s hard to expect much more from the Giants’ little brother. –MK
Lions
Some teams aced their schedule release videos and some teams missed the mark, but the Lions didn’t even put a creative one out. Instead, the Lions decided to keep things “strictly business” as they look to rebound from missing the playoffs last season. Their video included Dan Campbell posting the schedule on the bulletin board while listening to noise surrounding the team like “can the defense stay healthy” and if their Super Bowl window is closed. The choice was lame, lacking the creativity and jokes that have made schedule release day fun. —EG
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MIKE KADLICK
Mike Kadlick is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, he covered the New England Patriots for WEEI sports radio in Boston and continues to do so for CLNS Media. He has a master's in public relations from Boston University. Kadlick is also an avid runner and a proud lover of all things pizza.
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EVA GEITHEIM
Eva Geitheim is an NFL writer at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in December 2024, she wrote for Newsweek, Gymnastics Now and Dodgers Nation. A Bay Area native, she has a bachelor’s in communications from UCLA. When not writing, she can be found baking or rewatching Gilmore Girls.
KARL RASMUSSEN
Karl Rasmussen is a staff writer for Sports Illustrated. A University of Oregon alum who joined SI in February 2023, his work has appeared on 12up and ClutchPoints. Rasmussen is a loyal Tottenham, Jets, Yankees and Ducks fan.
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