2012 NFL Schedule Released: Broncos-Patriots, Steelers-Cowboys Among Must-See Games

By Joe Fortenbaugh, National Football Post

You’ve really got to hand it to the NFL. No other business in the world is capable of turning an administrative task such as creating a schedule into an all-hands-on-deck spectacle complete with it’s own show on ESPN.

Call it creative marketing if you want to, but Tuesday’s release of the 2012 regular season schedule has caught our attention. Players are checking for their bye weeks, fans are hard at work figuring out which road games they want to attend and guys like me are looking for the best matchups to write about.

The Pittsburgh-Baltimore and Chicago-Green Bay rivalries will always hold a special place in our hearts, but the purpose of the following list is to highlight ten matchups that we don’t necessarily get to see all that often.

And I’ll apologize in advance for not including the much-anticipated Cleveland-Indianapolis showdown that will likely hold serious implications for the 2013 NFL draft.

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Other games to keep an eye on…

Baltimore Ravens at Houston Texans (Week 7): The Texans have posted an 0-6 franchise record against the Ravens that happens to include a Divisional Round loss in last season’s playoffs. With a healthy Matt Schaub back under center, this could be the game where Houston finally breaks through.

St. Louis Rams at Washington Redskins (Week 2): After trading the No. 2 pick in next week’s draft to the ‘Skins, the Rams better hope that RG3 doesn’t tear them apart when these two teams get together. I can’t imagine the St. Louis faithful would find that amusing.

San Francisco 49ers at New England Patriots (Week 15): We were an overtime away from seeing these two teams play in last February’s Super Bowl.

Buffalo Bills at Houston Texans (Week 9): Newly-minted defensive end Mario Williams returns home to face the team that drafted him back in 2006. Matt Schaub should be on high alert.

San Diego Chargers at New York Jets (Week 16): Since 2000, the Chargers are just 2-5 over their last seven meetings with the Jets, which includes a 27-21 loss at New York last year that saw the Bolts blow a 21-10 halftime lead.  A December date could spell disaster once again for Norv Turner's crew.

New England Patriots at Baltimore Ravens (Week 3): Believe it or not, the Ravens have only defeated the Patriots one time (1-7) since 1996. It’s been a great rivalry to watch, but be advised that this could be the last opportunity we get to see Tom Brady and Ray Lewis on the field at the same time.

Hit me up on Twitter: @JoeFortenbaugh

Comments

[mahnistanah]

02:52 AM on 05/23/2012

Gints to Repeat. That is all.

[doctorj2u]

10:27 PM on 04/20/2012

San Francisco vs. New Orleans re-match. The only one carted off the field the last game was a Saints player, Pierre Thomas. It is New Orleans versus the world, nothing new. Been there, done that. Won't bow down, don't know how.

[SmotPoker]

08:33 AM on 04/20/2012

Lions @ Bears on a Monday night should be worth the time to watch. Last season the Lions home crowd helped the Bears commit a ton of false starts in a game the Lions dominated and won. Look for the fans at Soldier Field to try and return the favor, throw in the bad blood of a division rival and this has the makings of a great game.

[grandpaMark]

02:32 AM on 04/19/2012

Cowboys are must see? They have won ONE playoff game in 16 YEARS! They are the dregs of the NFL, along with the Bengals and Browns! LOL!

[Callyson]

11:47 PM on 04/18/2012

Looking forward to some good games.

Also--GO STEELERS!

[FoundersFan]

04:24 PM on 04/18/2012

Green Bay at Houston on Sunday night football has to be among the top 5 must-see games. This is a very possible preview of the 2013 Super Bowl.

[Maderous]

02:14 AM on 04/19/2012

Houston???? LOL thanks, man. I needed a good laugh.

[FoundersFan]

03:25 PM on 04/20/2012

One thing is certain, ANY Houston Texan game is worth watching more than any game by the 2nd best NFL team in the state of Texas--otherwise known as the Dallas Cowboys.

[baxtron]

03:39 PM on 04/18/2012

I'm already looking forward to a bye week.

[avvocato]

12:08 PM on 04/18/2012

Sorry but Iggles fans do NOT hate Stiller fans. They hate the Cow "girls" fans, then the Gints then the Skins in order.
Stillers might as well be playing in LA.

[CatfishJohn]

10:46 AM on 04/18/2012

Saturdays in the Fall is "must watch football". Regular season NFL is so often dull, homogenized snoozer games designed for schleps, fantasy football nerds and drunk by noon slobs.

[Flight]

07:51 AM on 04/18/2012

"Manning is just 2-6 lifetime at Foxborough against his AFC counterpart"

And after Week 5, he'll be 2-7. Already being hyped as the game to watch, it will be a snoozer. Peyton in the big games usually makes for nap time.

[writerjohnny]

07:44 AM on 04/18/2012

Not even close to ready. It is the middle of April. Hockey playoffs have started, the NBA post season is right around the corner and the national pastime is off to a very interesting start. Stop copying and pasting the NFL's press releases. ESPN has ruined sports coverage forever. And I have to go to work in an hour. I feel sorry for young people. All they have to look forward to is the game, the post game interviews, the news from the game, the analysis of the game, more interviews, injury reports, commentary about the game, analysis of the analysis of the game, commentary of the analysis of the game, next game hype, news about a DUI for someone who played in the game, the pre-game interviews etc. Times a trillion. 24/7. Forever.

[kaweb57]

07:18 AM on 04/18/2012

THE top game will be whenever Bad Newz Vick gets totalled for the season!!