LA Chargers use The Sims 2 to announce their 2024 NFL schedule, and yes, there's a pool steps-based murder

OK, so for the past few years, the Los Angeles Chargers - one of LA's NFL teams - have announced the schedule for the upcoming season in pretty entertaining fashion. This year, The Sims 2 has been chosen to host this reveal of who Justin Herbert and co will be playing against and when - creating something that both Sims fans and those of us who like American football can enjoy together.

As a recap of sorts, the schedule release videos we got from the Chargers in 2022 and 2023 were both anime-themed, taking on the guises of intros resembling those of shows at least one person you know is probably really into. It's a nice way to spice up something mundane, and this year's might be the team's best one yet.

There are far too many very funny gags in the video - which you can watch below - for me to point them all out, but here are some of my favorites, starting off with a few that folks who are just here for the classic Sims nostalgia will enjoy.

First of all, right at the start there's the iconic 'get everyone in the pool, delete the steps so they've got no way out, and watch them drown' move that councillors have been trying to read into for years, this time pulled on a bunch of poor folks wearing the jerseys of teams that aren't the Chargers. Then, a bit later on, sim Baker Mayfield manages to cause one of the kitchen fires that've caused the deaths of thousands of sims, and of course someone gets eaten by a cow plant.

The grim reaper also makes an couple of appearances, with one being to re-create that door-knocking meme.

Now, on to the ones that I liked as someone who knows some things about American sports. The Denver Broncos, who've been roasted non-stop since that Russell Wilson trade, get both barrels again here in hilarious fashion, with the gags including Sean Payton returning some players the team's recently let go to a shop, and a Broncos fan wishing for some cap space at a well, only for it to backfire. The reiging champion Kansas City Chiefs get plenty of it to, both via a Travis Kelce/Taylor Swift gag we all could have seen coming, and a section at the end which sees kicker Harrison Butker cooking in a kitchen - playing off his comments about women during a recent commencement speech.

Finally, one bit sees new Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh have a pillow fight with his brother, Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh. That was quite nice.

So yeah, a fun NFL/video games crossover all-in-all, and before we've even gotten to see this year's Madden.