The Chargers gave themselves a tough act to follow, thanks to last year’s awesome schedule-release video in anime. They nevertheless followed it well.
This year’s is just as good, if not better.
It looks great. It sounds great. And it’s chock full of hilarious Easter eggs.
Here are some of the things we noticed. (And, yes, there are spoilers.)
Week One, Dolphins. The video includes coach Mike McDaniel vaping, a nod to the moment last season when some thought he was hitting a vape pen during a game.
Week Three, Vikings. Beyond the birds flying in the side of US Bank Stadium (a real concern there) and an image of Kirko Chainz, there’s a collection of hilarious banners in the background, including “Mentioned in a Lizzo Song.”
Week Four, Raiders. The “Get Your Quarter Back” slot machine. It lands on three Garoppolos. On the corner of the machine is the phrase, “Family Trust Respect.” Which apparently is code for “F–k The Raiders.”
Week Six, Cowboys. They take a slap at the Dallas content team for throwing quarterback Dak Prescott under the bus after January’s playoff loss to the 49ers by having a bus labeled “Content Team” literally run over Dak.
Week Seven, Chiefs. Superfan Chiefsaholic, a bank-robbery suspect who at least failed to show up for a court hearing after removing his electronic monitoring device and disappearing, is shown removing his electronic monitoring device.
Week Eight, Bears: Inside the Rebuild-a-Bear workshop, with references to “Smokin’ Jay” Cutler, Rex Grossman, Jim McMahon, and one fairly notorious tweet from years gone by posted by Mitch Trubisky.
Week Nine, Jets. This one is art. Aaron Rodgers stands in Time Square. Easter eggs abound. Brilliance is abundant. Look closely. When you have, look even closer. Particularly at the “Missing” poster.
Week 10, Lions. The recent gambling scandal gets proper treatment.
Week 11, Packers. They make reference to the Aaron Rodgers darkness retreat. (Freeze it when the flame throws light on the background and enjoy.)
Week 14, Broncos. Russ is preparing to battle Patrick Star, who roasted Wilson after he threw an interception during the Christmas game on Nickelodeon. Wilson’s weapon of choice is a spatula, a nod to the now-defunct “Let Russ Cook” mantra.
Week 15, Raiders. The slot machine returns. The slip with the payout shows the sum of -$72,750,000, the amount of Garoppolo’s contract with the Raiders. It includes a QR code that leads to this link.
Week 16, Bills. Josh Allen and others are burning the logos from the four Super Bowls they lost. Stefon Diggs stands by and watches, with the same pose he assumed when he watched the Chiefs celebrate the AFC Championship to cap the 2020 season.
Week 17, Broncos. Russ’s personal office is being vacated and renovated by Sean Payton.
It’s well done. It’s fun. And the Chargers started off by poking fun at their squandering of a 27-point lead in Jacksonville in the postseason.
So that’s two straight years of excellence. Don’t let us down next year, Chargers.
Chargers unleash another awesome anime schedule-release video originally appeared on Pro Football Talk