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The Cowboys' 2025 schedule release turned out to be one of those jokes with an absurdly long setup, only to finish with a punch line that's just so-so.
Fans had been invited to tune in to a livestream earlier in the afternoon, with Micah Parsons, CeeDee Lamb, Osa Odighizuwa, and Tyler Smith playing a round of golf. Of course, in true Cowboys fashion, America's Stream: Countdown to Schedule Release had its own corporate sponsor and featured plenty of lighthearted fun and games as the teammates and a few special guests hit the links.
But only later was it revealed that the 2025 schedule of opponents had actually already been dropped, one clue at a time, all throughout the day: Smith chomping a big apple was the tipoff for Week 2's date with the New York Giants, a block of cheese lying off the cart path signified the meeting with Green Bay in Week 4, Parsons flying a green paper airplane was for the Week 5 matchup with the Jets, and so on.
Maybe for the eagle-eyed fan who watched the entire thing and happened to notice the Easter eggs in real time, it was perhaps a fun exercise with a satisfying payoff. Edited together and watched back on Wednesday night alongside some of the other teams' efforts, though, it fell a little flat.
But that hit-or-miss factor is par for the course with the whole schedule release video phenomenon. Some teams blow it out and create genuinely clever must-see viral moments of their own, while others go over like a bad Saturday Night Live sketch that should have stayed in the writers' room.
Part of the fun is seeing how other teams reveal their respective dates with the Cowboys, with many organizations' media departments using the opportunity to take a few zingers and potshots.
Here's how the Cowboys' 2025 opponents unveiled their schedules and what some of them had to say about America's Team.
The defending Super Bowl champs went very, very understated. One minute, 18 seconds of slow, artful beauty shots of the Lombardi Trophy in a dramatically dark room, accompanied by the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey... and then the team's entire 2025 schedule in super-tiny type for the final seven seconds.
The Giants did a Love Island parody, with "contestants" from their opponents' cities introducing themselves. For the Cowboys, it was an over-the-top Dolly Parton character in a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders costume proclaiming, "This is gonna be my year!"
Link
The Bears brought in Chicago-born comedian and actor Lamorne Morris as a fledgling employee tasked with emailing the team's schedule to new head coach Ben Johnson. But when he accidentally sends it to every Ben Johnson on the Bears' marketing list, he and the team have to go find them and destroy their devices before they see the schedule. Bonus points for getting several real-life Ben Johnsons to make comical cameos, but the actual reveal of opponents and dates only comes at the end.
This one is weird. Running back Josh Jacobs has a fever dream where he has to find the missing schedule. There are trippy effects, dumb inside jokes, and several Packers notables... and then rapper Lil Wayne, for some inexplicable reason. Games are revealed at the end.
The Jets do an infinity drawing, where the artist shows a picture, then zooms in to reveal another drawing inside it, then another and another, with each new piece of art depicting a game on the team's schedule. The Cowboys' Week 5 trip to New York is represented by the famous Naked Cowboy standing in Times Square.
The Panthers' secret reveal meeting features a few of their players revealing big secrets of their own. Fan favorite Xavier Legette confessing that his Southern drawl isn't real is solid gold, but the bits with Jaycee Horn and Chuba Hubbard drag on way too long.
Video games are a tried and true theme for schedule release videos, and the Commanders added a retro element with their homage to RollerCoaster Tycoon. Week 7 has customers lining up to get in at Jerry's World, while the Christmas Day Week 17 rematch is represented in a snow-covered wonderland.
In their video, Denver introduces the rest of the league to mutton busting, a rodeo event in which young children try to ride a sheep for as long as possible. Here, each rider is outfitted in an opponent's colors as the announcer delivers an obvious and corny pun for that particular team as the kids eat dirt. The Cowboys rider earns "a silver star for trying... but nothing else." Hilarious, right?
The Cardinals got good reviews for their slickly-produced rap video, performed by linebacker Mack Wilson, a.k.a. Rocketship. (The song, titled "18 Bars," has even been released on Apple Music and Spotify.) Wilson shouts out the early-November Monday Night meeting with the Cowboys by referencing a "cowboy hat 'cos we in Dallas."
The Raiders decided to do a takeoff of ESPN's old "This is SportsCenter" ads, but chose to make their video an interminable seven minutes long. The individual scenes announcing each game are way too long, and most of them simply aren't funny. For the Cowboys, there's a Gene Steratore index card gag.
The Chiefs played a round of Cash Cab for their schedule release, and they brought in the game show's real host, Ben Bailey, to drive passengers through the streets of Kansas City and quiz them on the team's 2025 opponents with game tickets on the line. The Cowboys question asks which NFL stadium is referred to as "Jerry World."
The Lions kind of mailed this one in. The entire video is dizzying drone shots of Motor City landmarks, only to reveal helmets on stands at various locations for each game. Some of the backdrops have been specifically chosen for certain opponents; the Cowboys get a couple of signs around Ford Field emblazoned with a big D. ("Big D," get it?)
The Vikings- and certainly a few of their fans- committed to the bit here, getting tattoos that represent each of their 2025 opponents, but with a bit of Viking flair. The Dallas ink is a cowboy hat, but with the ubiquitous Viking horns and a pair of yellow braids sticking out from underneath.
As usual, the Chargers' social media team knocked it out of the park. Their "Minecraft"-themed video absolutely skewers every opponent on the schedule. In just 10 seconds, they poke fun at the Cowboys for the rush of fans when they open the doors at AT&T, they show a piece of metal falling from the stadium roof, they make fun of the venue's lack of curtains, they re-hash the recent beef between Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, and they even find time to drag the Mavericks.
Follow Cowboys Wire on Facebook to join in on the conversation with fellow fans!
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: How Cowboys' opponents revealed 2025 regular season schedules
Continue reading...
Fans had been invited to tune in to a livestream earlier in the afternoon, with Micah Parsons, CeeDee Lamb, Osa Odighizuwa, and Tyler Smith playing a round of golf. Of course, in true Cowboys fashion, America's Stream: Countdown to Schedule Release had its own corporate sponsor and featured plenty of lighthearted fun and games as the teammates and a few special guests hit the links.
But only later was it revealed that the 2025 schedule of opponents had actually already been dropped, one clue at a time, all throughout the day: Smith chomping a big apple was the tipoff for Week 2's date with the New York Giants, a block of cheese lying off the cart path signified the meeting with Green Bay in Week 4, Parsons flying a green paper airplane was for the Week 5 matchup with the Jets, and so on.
Maybe for the eagle-eyed fan who watched the entire thing and happened to notice the Easter eggs in real time, it was perhaps a fun exercise with a satisfying payoff. Edited together and watched back on Wednesday night alongside some of the other teams' efforts, though, it fell a little flat.
But that hit-or-miss factor is par for the course with the whole schedule release video phenomenon. Some teams blow it out and create genuinely clever must-see viral moments of their own, while others go over like a bad Saturday Night Live sketch that should have stayed in the writers' room.
Part of the fun is seeing how other teams reveal their respective dates with the Cowboys, with many organizations' media departments using the opportunity to take a few zingers and potshots.
Here's how the Cowboys' 2025 opponents unveiled their schedules and what some of them had to say about America's Team.
Philadelphia Eagles (Weeks 1 & 12)
The defending Super Bowl champs went very, very understated. One minute, 18 seconds of slow, artful beauty shots of the Lombardi Trophy in a dramatically dark room, accompanied by the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey... and then the team's entire 2025 schedule in super-tiny type for the final seven seconds.
New York Giants (Weeks 2 & 18)
The Giants did a Love Island parody, with "contestants" from their opponents' cities introducing themselves. For the Cowboys, it was an over-the-top Dolly Parton character in a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders costume proclaiming, "This is gonna be my year!"
Link
Chicago Bears (Week 3)
The Bears brought in Chicago-born comedian and actor Lamorne Morris as a fledgling employee tasked with emailing the team's schedule to new head coach Ben Johnson. But when he accidentally sends it to every Ben Johnson on the Bears' marketing list, he and the team have to go find them and destroy their devices before they see the schedule. Bonus points for getting several real-life Ben Johnsons to make comical cameos, but the actual reveal of opponents and dates only comes at the end.
Green Bay Packers (Week 4)
This one is weird. Running back Josh Jacobs has a fever dream where he has to find the missing schedule. There are trippy effects, dumb inside jokes, and several Packers notables... and then rapper Lil Wayne, for some inexplicable reason. Games are revealed at the end.
New York Jets (Week 5)
The Jets do an infinity drawing, where the artist shows a picture, then zooms in to reveal another drawing inside it, then another and another, with each new piece of art depicting a game on the team's schedule. The Cowboys' Week 5 trip to New York is represented by the famous Naked Cowboy standing in Times Square.
Carolina Panthers (Week 6)
The Panthers' secret reveal meeting features a few of their players revealing big secrets of their own. Fan favorite Xavier Legette confessing that his Southern drawl isn't real is solid gold, but the bits with Jaycee Horn and Chuba Hubbard drag on way too long.
Washington Commanders (Weeks 7 & 17)
Video games are a tried and true theme for schedule release videos, and the Commanders added a retro element with their homage to RollerCoaster Tycoon. Week 7 has customers lining up to get in at Jerry's World, while the Christmas Day Week 17 rematch is represented in a snow-covered wonderland.
Denver Broncos (Week 8)
In their video, Denver introduces the rest of the league to mutton busting, a rodeo event in which young children try to ride a sheep for as long as possible. Here, each rider is outfitted in an opponent's colors as the announcer delivers an obvious and corny pun for that particular team as the kids eat dirt. The Cowboys rider earns "a silver star for trying... but nothing else." Hilarious, right?
Arizona Cardinals (Week 9)
The Cardinals got good reviews for their slickly-produced rap video, performed by linebacker Mack Wilson, a.k.a. Rocketship. (The song, titled "18 Bars," has even been released on Apple Music and Spotify.) Wilson shouts out the early-November Monday Night meeting with the Cowboys by referencing a "cowboy hat 'cos we in Dallas."
Las Vegas Raiders (Week 11)
The Raiders decided to do a takeoff of ESPN's old "This is SportsCenter" ads, but chose to make their video an interminable seven minutes long. The individual scenes announcing each game are way too long, and most of them simply aren't funny. For the Cowboys, there's a Gene Steratore index card gag.
Kansas City Chiefs (Week 13)
The Chiefs played a round of Cash Cab for their schedule release, and they brought in the game show's real host, Ben Bailey, to drive passengers through the streets of Kansas City and quiz them on the team's 2025 opponents with game tickets on the line. The Cowboys question asks which NFL stadium is referred to as "Jerry World."
Detroit Lions (Week 14)
The Lions kind of mailed this one in. The entire video is dizzying drone shots of Motor City landmarks, only to reveal helmets on stands at various locations for each game. Some of the backdrops have been specifically chosen for certain opponents; the Cowboys get a couple of signs around Ford Field emblazoned with a big D. ("Big D," get it?)
Minnesota Vikings (Week 15)
The Vikings- and certainly a few of their fans- committed to the bit here, getting tattoos that represent each of their 2025 opponents, but with a bit of Viking flair. The Dallas ink is a cowboy hat, but with the ubiquitous Viking horns and a pair of yellow braids sticking out from underneath.
Los Angeles Chargers (Week 16)
As usual, the Chargers' social media team knocked it out of the park. Their "Minecraft"-themed video absolutely skewers every opponent on the schedule. In just 10 seconds, they poke fun at the Cowboys for the rush of fans when they open the doors at AT&T, they show a piece of metal falling from the stadium roof, they make fun of the venue's lack of curtains, they re-hash the recent beef between Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, and they even find time to drag the Mavericks.
Follow Cowboys Wire on Facebook to join in on the conversation with fellow fans!
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: How Cowboys' opponents revealed 2025 regular season schedules
Continue reading...