As a San Diego native, I will never forgive the Chargers for leaving. But credit where credit is due, the franchise's social media team has been on pace for the release of the NFL schedule to the point where everyone is excited and anticipating what theme might be taken up next. This year, the Chargers may have outdone themselves with an NFL schedule video that will be of particular interest to players and filled with plenty of hilarious details.
In a stroke of genius, the Los Angeles Chargers' NFL release schedule video is composed of a series of “maps” that were created within Halo. Each map features a vignette themed around that opponent and includes some obvious (and some not-so-obvious) references to that team's history. Perhaps best of all, the Chargers collaborated with Microsoft on the video, giving it a special air of authenticity.
You have to be at least a casual NFL watcher to really appreciate how great the Los Angeles Chargers release schedule video is. We're talking about regularly rebuilding your Madden franchise mode team to see your favorite team make it to the Super Bowl. And the more you know about the team, the more little Easter eggs you'll pick up. Everything from the name of each map to the logos for the opponents at least gave me a laugh.
For example, the Los Angeles Rams have the Colorado Avalanche logo, a reference to the controversy surrounding GM Les Snead wearing that NHL team's jersey, while the Los Angeles Kings (who should probably root for Snead's team) were locked in a playoff battle with the Avs. Yes, Rams owner Stan Kroenke also owns the Avalanche, but fans thought it was in bad taste and caused a bit of a mess. The chargers that introduced it in the video are just perfect.
I don't want to spoil all the references, jokes and roasts, but I have to say the Broncos are definitely the highlight. Choosing to target the ankle with a sticky grenade — an obvious reference to Bo Nix's ankle injury in the AFC divisional round — is the type of barb you'd expect from a division rival. Some would argue that it gave the Patriots a clear path to the 2026 Super Bowl, so getting into it is dirty. I'd also recommend scanning the QR code for a nice poke at the Kansas City Chiefs.
Who is that character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Start
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
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Los Angeles Chargers References Mike Vrabel and Diana Russini
And then there's the elephant in the room. Heading into the release of the NFL schedule on Thursday night, everyone was wondering if there would be a joke about the Mike Vrabel and Diana Russini scandal. Would that be too far? Would any team be willing to stick their neck out that far? Reports said the NFL has not issued any mandate regarding referencing the scandal and that teams should proceed at their best discretion. So then it was a question of whether the Chargers would take advantage of that opportunity.
The answer is yes – yes they did. The references are subtle, but they are there.
Los Angeles has once again scored an NFL schedule release, and at this point it's hard to pick a favorite from all of their past creations. Last year's Minecraft themed release was pretty fantastic, but I think this Halo is even better. Getting Jeff Steitzer, the voice of the Halo announcer, to provide commentary is a dose of nostalgia that any gamer will appreciate, and the more you know about the ins and outs of the NFL, the better the video is. If this partnership with Microsoft is to continue again, I can only imagine what the theme will be for the Los Angeles Chargers 2027 NFL Release Schedule video. Maybe a World of Warcraft video is in their future?
