The NFL released its 2023 schedule Thursday, which holds special meaning for football fans on social media: It’s the day in which in-house content units from teams across the league find new, inventive and just plain hilarious ways to announce which dates they will face their upcoming opponents.
Unsurprisingly, there were several instantly viral videos, including another anime-themed gold mine of funny references from the Los Angeles Chargers, a Philadelphia Eagles video featuring several impressive dogs, videos from the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys evoking hit television shows, an incredible feat of Google Maps guessing from the New York Jets, and a New England Patriots retirement house featuring Devin McCourty along with a special guest.
[FOX Sports experts predict every game in each NFL team’s 2023 schedule]
Here are the videos that had the internet buzzing!
The Chargers’ second anime roasts everyone — including themselves
The Chargers went with an anime format for the second year in the row, and once again poked fun at every single one of their opponents, referencing several viral NFL moments and news stories from the past season and offseason.
The Chargers did not spare themselves, either, opening the video with a literal receipt depicting their blown 27-0 lead against the Jaguars in last year’s playoffs.
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Oh, and a QR code was shown in the clip of Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels cashing a slot machine voucher for new quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Those who scanned the code were taken to a page on the team website with two buttons for Chargers fans and Raiders fans. Clicking the latter button takes fans to the Google search results for “how to get a job.”
Ouch.
The Indianapolis… Cowboys?
The Tennessee Titans asked passers-by in downtown Nashville to identify the logos of their 2023 opponents.
It did not go well for those people.
Google Maps wizard unveils Jets schedule
Viral sensation @rainbolt, who is able to identify a region in Google Maps just by seeing a picture for 0.1 seconds, helped the Jets unveil their 2023 schedule with a twist. The Jets only showed him half of a photo of a street in a given opponent’s respective city in black and white.
And yet …
Bears, Cowboys dial up prime-time TV
“The Bear” is a show set in a fast-paced sandwich shop in Chicago. “Yellowstone” is a show about, well, Cowboys.
But while riffing on those hit streaming shows may have been an easy choice for the NFL’s Bears and Cowboys, both social media teams did a nice job with their crossovers, sure to excite fans of both the teams and the shows.
Peyton and the party planning committee
The Denver Broncos went with another office-style schedule release video, but this time the “boss” Peyton Manning enlisted actress Angela Kinsey — yes, that Angela — for doing what her famed sitcom character loved doing most: leading a party planning committee.
The Patriots’ retirement house
Devin McCourty was welcomed into the Patriots’ “retirement house” by several New England legends — including another recent retiree making a cameo in the video’s finale (his name rhymes with Shom Shrady).
The Eagles enlist some good boys
The defending NFC champions may not be underdogs much next season, but they still had to show some love to their own dogs, including Jason Kelce’s dog Baloo announcing the Super Bowl rematch against Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs.
Lions, Commanders, Buccaneers get an assist from AI
The artificial intelligence craze has officially hit the NFL. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers based their video off an AI-generated script, the Washington Commanders used AI-generated art for some of their game announcements, and the Detroit Lions even had AI simulate the voices of head coach Dan Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes as they were seen playing a game of Madden.
Vikings drone show!
Last but certainly not least, the Minnesota Vikings hopped on the single-take drone video trend for an immersive feel to their schedule release.
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Los Angeles Chargers
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