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On what is one of the most unique days on the league calendar, the NFL schedule release is the chance for social media staffs to flex their creative muscles. Last year, the Los Angeles Chargers' anime-inspired trailer and Tennessee Titans' quizzing of Broadway passersby stole headlines. Staffs didn't disappoint this year on Wednesday. Philadelphia Eagles fans showed how unhinged they really are, the Dallas Cowboys were in a pranking mood, the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs both used hydraulic presses and the Chargers and Titans impressed again. There were plenty of other elaborate skits, celebrity cameos, funny references, friendly and not-so-friendly banter and more. It's only right The Athletic ranks the best schedule releases once again, this time with the help of writers Joe Rexrode and Josh Kendall. Which team took the No. 1 spot for 2024? Let's get to the list. The Eagles punched all the right buttons — swatting at opponents throughout and acknowledging their own warts. Comparing the Commanders logo to a taco holder and two L's was a nice touch, but the (possibly drunk?) Santa put this one over the top. Bonus points for presenting the schedule clearly and chronologically. — Kendall Eagles fans: slightly unhinged@Ticketmaster | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/RxEDJ8xlQX — Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 16, 2024 An absolute masterpiece. There are so many good jokes packed into three minutes, you need to watch this several times to absorb them all. And you'll actually want to watch it several times! It's like a Quentin Tarantino movie, but in "The Sims" animation. The quick work to insert Harrison Butker, homemaker? Brilliant. — Rexrode should we REALLY make our schedule release video in the sims? yes yes yesyes — Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) May 16, 2024 These don't all have to be snarky, right? The Colts lean into cute kids and good, wholesome fun when Shane Steichen and three players show up to help Mrs. Cook's class solve the tough defense that is helping Mrs. Tamborini's class dominate at recess. The glazed look when Steichen starts talking about reading the safety is precious. Anthony Richardson called out for copying? Good stuff. But where's the payoff? Did they get their deep shot in on Suzy, the cornerback who squats on short routes? Wait until next year, I guess. — Rexrode Drawn up to perfection. 🖍️ 📺 2024 Schedule Release on NFLN pic.twitter.com/iajAkYCJCZ — Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) May 16, 2024 Last year's undisputed champ, with folks on Nashville's Broadway incorrectly identifying team logos in comical ways, goes back to the well with one of those folks as this year's interviewer. It's not a great sequel, it's not "Godfather II." But it's not "Caddyshack II," either. It's good, especially the continued confusion over the Jaguars logo. Let's call it "Shrek 2." — Rexrode Back on Broadway with some help from a friend 🤣 2024 Titans Schedule Release presented by @shift4 📺: 2024 NFL Schedule release on @nflnetwork & ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/n4EN6DmC6t — Tennessee Titans (@Titans) May 16, 2024 You're forgiven if you've got Gronk/Julian Edelman fatigue at this point, but they've cleaned up the language from the Tom Brady roast and — surprise! — they're actually funnier this way. Movie parodies can fall flat, but this take on "Good Will Hunting" induces some chuckles. Also, Gronk may actually be a better actor than Ben Affleck. — Rexrode Do you like schedules? pic.twitter.com/xxNTeCxFvv — New England Patriots (@Patriots) May 16, 2024 Atlanta took it to the streets in a couple of senses. The Falcons modeled their video after the early 2000s video game NFL Street and also went bare knuckles with a few jabs. Top shots ranked: 1. The David Tepper water cup. 2. The Aints/Kirk Cousins "You Like Dat" sign. 3. Suggesting Deion Sanders is the best football coach in the state of Colorado. (Hello, old friend Sean Payton.) — Kendall ATL Streets Vol. '24@NFL Schedule Release @NFLNetwork | NFL+ pic.twitter.com/Co46Sbhec8 — Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) May 16, 2024 The new-look Bears got Jake Johnson to narrate a Chicago-centric storyline, and Chicago got lots of player participation. If there is a quibble, it was a bit TLDR. Caleb Williams stepping off the school bus at the end saved it, though. — Kendall The season moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. pic.twitter.com/MpXMPEcTD6 — Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) May 16, 2024 This was a great idea, conveying each opponent in the form of a Dad joke and trying to get stone-faced, intimidating James "Deebo" Harrison to laugh. Simple, creative and funny. Also, it turns out to be a PR master class — Russell Wilson actually comes off as likable! — Rexrode No joke. Our 2024 schedule is here. @laurelhighlands | @jharrison9292 | 📺: Schedule release coverage on NFLN pic.twitter.com/okiDg2L4XR — Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) May 16, 2024 This was good but just missed something special. Sort of like the Lions' 2023 season, if we're being honest. Detroit gets points for understanding that just putting likable people on the camera is half the battle. It loses points for not making a fourth-down joke. It was right there, guys. — Kendall We hired a couple Detroiters to help us unveil this year's schedule@ticketmaster pic.twitter.com/5DpHhcqp7X — Detroit Lions (@Lions) May 16, 2024 Josh Allen may have a future in acting. Perhaps he's getting some help from girlfriend Hailee Steinfeld, but whatever it is, he's got some nice subtle moments of humor in this take on Chris Pratt's character in the vastly underrated show "Parks and Recreation." For those who don't know that show, this might just seem weird. — Rexrode It's a simple life for @JoshAllenQB across the street.@Ticketmaster | #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/PEgQEzzOL3 — Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) May 16, 2024 An original idea that just didn't quite hit. Cowboys legends prank-called people affiliated with their opponents. Some were funny, some were confused and some just sort of sat there. National championship basketball coach and devoted Philly fan Dawn Staley's "Yuck" was the highlight of this one. — Kendall 🎶 The Cowboys called, seen you on Facetime 🎶 We prank called our opponents' fans for our 2024 schedule release 📲 Get @SeatGeek 🎟️s now: https://t.co/BAuSp2okCF pic.twitter.com/ZhSvFVXp39 — Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) May 16, 2024 Here's another nod to another great '90s movie, "The Big Lebowski" — Gen X, this is your year for NFL schedule releases! — though it's not as faithful to the original as the Pats were to "Good Will Hunting." Still, you've got to like "The Big Stefanski" poster and the Terrible Towels used to clean bowling balls. All capped with an amusingly awkward cameo from bowling legend Pete Weber. — Rexrode hate us or love us, you'll watch 🎳 2024 schedule release. pic.twitter.com/TN3mCo5LGr — Cleveland Browns (@Browns) May 16, 2024 Comedian Stavros Halkias has some funny moments in this coast-to-coast adventure, and some that may be a bit graphic for young viewers — do we really need the back tattoo shot or the excessive talking with food in the mouth? Still, "Rock You Like a Hurricane" slaps. And we learn that John Harbaugh is better and less awkward than Jim Harbaugh as an actor. As in most things. — Rexrode There was only one man Harbs trusted for the job… @stavvybaby@SeatGeek | 📺: @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/3a9OfunYK0 — Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) May 16, 2024 Short and sweet at 1:41, but the Steve Job-sy iPhone reveal copycat is a little played out. The Vikings do get credit for presenting the schedule in a readable and understandable form. — Kendall The next generation of #Vikings schedules is here!https://t.co/UeiFxRs60a pic.twitter.com/RTpkaEmlLF — Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) May 16, 2024 Why is the Cake or Not Cake thing so fascinating? It feels like they left a cupcake joke on the table somewhere, but the premise still worked. The cat joke worked, but let's call it a day on the Will Levis-mayo jokes, huh? A nice tight 2:22 was a bonus. — Kendall Whipped up something sweet for schedule release 🎂 🎟️ https://t.co/1MtIrnqvuP | @SeatGeek | 📺 @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/KaDZZkSeBz — Washington Commanders (@Commanders) May 16, 2024 Work smarter, not harder. Amid productions of more than 5 minutes that were 3 minutes too long, the brevity here is refreshing. — Rexrode So much of these videos is about the target audience. The television being moved into the room on a pushcart and the actual VCR cassette really speaks to the (upper) middle-age NFL fans out there. The Packers get points for keeping that theme throughout with a lot of things old(er) folks could recognize. Also, "I believed in Jordan Love the whole time" is a good line. — Kendall The Bengals went the Colts route, getting the kids involved, but did we need to shrink one and kick him through a goal post? Did we need to hit one in the face with a guitar and one with a metal bar? Also, do kids actually spell this poorly? Egals? Raydurs? "No kids were harmed in the making of this schedule release," said the disclaimer at the end, which is true if we're not trying to teach them to be funny. — Rexrode GO DEEPER NFL's best and worst prime-time matchups, top revenge games and more from 2024 schedule This one could have been just rookie wide receiver Xavier Legette monologuing the phone book, but it was a clear and funny theme and the players genuinely seemed to get a kick out of it, which is a big plus. — Kendall This is one of those videos that seemed to have great potential. The talent was there, the guys from AreYouKiddingTV setting up a park scenario to get passersby in hilarious situations. And then it just kind of fell flat. It just sort of happened. Not unlike the Jets' 2023 season. — Rexrode You've got to feel for the social media teams of the Texans and Chiefs when they found out they weren't the only ones using a hydraulic press to smash things that represent the opponents on the schedule. The Texans get the nod because they switched to a bulldozer to destroy a table representing Bills Mafia. That's much better than Kansas City's gross chicken wings annihilation. — Rexrode The Seahawks get most of their credit for a lot of cool art they released in conjunction with the video, but the release itself was pretty standard. Devon Witherspoon has some potential in front of the camera but needs some seasoning. — Kendall How did we get only one real AI reference? You would have made a lot betting the under on that. This one, though, would have been better if they actually had let the computer do all the work. — Kendall The graphics department put in a lot of work on this one and the final product looked cool, but the zero participation from anyone in the organization suggests all the Rams were still in the draft house sleeping off draft season. — Kendall The concept is fun: Formula One star Lewis Hamilton trying various foods that represent Broncos opponents and reacting to them. But an English guy grossed out by gumbo and peach cobbler? And calling grits "prison food" and "dog puke"? You people eat baked beans with breakfast! You have a dish called "bangers and mash!" Join us now, lovers of Southern food: "U-S-A! U-S-A!" — Rexrode Rita Oak's drawings are always a nice touch. But what happened here? Did they just want to ride on Nick Bosa's boat? — Kendall Some cool animation and graphics here, but it's time the Jags' social media team started noticing how often the Jags are the butt of jokes — the Titans' social media team is making a living off you — and responded. The high road has its limitations. Let's put some snark into this next year, eh? — Rexrode Was anyone else bothered by the mangling of the cute little pony figurine representing the Denver Broncos? Also, please tell me that was a pile of Tootsie Rolls representing the Cleveland Browns. — Rexrode The gag, apparently, was that the Giants were making fun of the whole concept and just didn't even try to make a schedule video. The end result was about as successful as those uniforms they unveiled online Thursday. — Kendall Did the Bucs read the assignment? We're here to make fun of other people and have cool graphics. Tampa Bay put together a really pretty 5:28 video that highlighted some really talented local artists. It would have done well at the Greater Tampa Short Film awards, but it missed this target. — Kendall GO DEEPER NFL schedule 2024 winners and losers: Caleb Williams has chance to thrive; Jets face treacherous slate Hey. Raiders? We don't need dramatic hype videos. "No gimmicks" is what you tweeted with this thing, but it's not gimmicky to be creative. You've got one playoff appearance in the past six seasons. Maybe try something different. Like having some fun. — Rexrode The Cardinals fall in the same category as the Bucs, but they didn't do it as well. This one wouldn't have played at the Greater Phoenix Short Film festival. — Kendall (Illustration: Sean Reilly / The Athletic; Photos: Skip Bolen / Getty Images for PBA; Cooper Neill / Getty Images; Lionel Hahn / Getty Images for Stagwell)1. Philadelphia Eagles
2. Los Angeles Chargers
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yes yes yesyes pic.twitter.com/MXzfAPyhe83. Indianapolis Colts
4. Tennessee Titans
5. New England Patriots
6. Atlanta Falcons
7. Chicago Bears
8. Pittsburgh Steelers
9. Detroit Lions
10. Buffalo Bills
11. Dallas Cowboys
12. Cleveland Browns
13. Baltimore Ravens
14. Minnesota Vikings
15. Washington Commanders
16. Miami Dolphins
17. Green Bay Packers
18. Cincinnati Bengals
19. Carolina Panthers
20. New York Jets
21. Houston Texans
22. Seattle Seahawks
23. New Orleans Saints
24. Los Angeles Rams
25. Denver Broncos
26. San Francisco 49ers
27. Jacksonville Jaguars
28. Kansas City Chiefs
29. New York Giants
30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
31. Las Vegas Raiders
32. Arizona Cardinals
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