Hot! 2012 Nfl Schedule Is Released

For the past three weeks, the only firm date for any 2012 NFL regular-season games was Sept. 5.

We now know exactly when the 255 other contests will be played after the Week 1 opener between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants .

The league announced the remainder of its schedule Tuesday. This gives ample time for avid fans to make personal plans (travel, weddings, etc.) and Green Bay hoteliers to raise their weekend rates (no joke markups of 300 percent to 400 percent can cost out-of-towners a lot of cheddar).

Trying to predict what specific matchups will be meaningful in November and December is fruitless, but here are eight aspects of the slate that already stand out:

The most anticipated Week 1 game isn t the Giants vs. Cowboys.

While there is great history in this NFC East rivalry, the NFL could have opted for a more attractive matchup pitting its past two champions Green Bay (Super Bowl XLV) vs. New York (Super Bowl XLVI). There would be added intrigue from the Giants upsetting the Packers in the 2011 playoffs en route to capturing the Lombardi Trophy.

The NFL, though, also knows that the opening game will garner monster television ratings from football-starved fans even if the Giants were hosting, say, lowly Cleveland like in Week 5 (Oct. 7). That s why the league booked Packers-Giants for Week 12 (Nov. 25, a Sunday night) as a surefire draw later in the season. The league couldn t have positioned a game more perfectly to lure fans wanting to plop in front of the TV at the conclusion of the first holiday shopping weekend.

Unfortunately, a rematch of the amazing NFC Championship Game between New York and San Francisco wasn t a Week 1 option. The NFL always has the defending Super Bowl champion open at home, and the Giants are set to travel to San Francisco in what will be a Week 6/Oct. 14 kickoff on FOX.

The more appealing Week 1 contest: Pittsburgh at Denver on Sept. 9 (Sunday night). This will mark the regular-season debut of Peyton Manning for the in a rematch of last year s first-round playoff game.

Speaking of Manning . . .

What was once the NFL s top interdivisional rivalry Indianapolis vs. New England no longer carries such cache.

In a scheduling quirk, the Colts and Patriots are set to meet for the 10th consecutive year in the regular season. Those games and playoff meetings were always a must-see when two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks Manning and were on opposite sides of the field.

But now that Manning has left the Colts for Denver, the Colts-Patriots rivalry has lost its luster. In all likelihood, Manning replacement Andrew Luck is going to take his lumps in this Week 11 game (Nov. 18) in Foxborough, Mass.

And yes, a 1 p.m. ET kickoff is scheduled for what likely will be a regional telecast.

As for the next installment of Manning vs. Brady, that takes place when the Patriots host Denver in Week 5/Oct. 7.

Does the NFL have a saturation point?

We ll find out if the weekly Thursday night games that begin in Week 2 with Chicago vs. Green Bay aren t a television ratings smash or drag down the numbers of other telecasts, particularly on Monday nights when the product isn t attractive enough to mainstream fans (think Baltimore vs. Jacksonville or St. Louis vs. Seattle in 2011).

It could have been worse for the New Orleans Saints .