Analyzing the 2012 NFL Schedule

Yay! the 2012 NFL Schedule was released! Again! See, what the NFL does is they have a rotating schedule that is based on a simple premise. Each team in the same division (i.e. NFC East) will play the 3 teams in their own division 6 times, another division in the same conference (NFC South) 1 time each, and a division from the other conference (AFC North) also 1 time each on a rotating 4 year schedule. Next year for example, the NFC East will face the NFC North and AFC West (that means a face-off of the Manning Brothers next year!). The big deal however, is that the exact time and dates of the games are not revealed until April, because the NFL wants to create a schedule that appeases numerous factors such as:

• 49ers and Raiders games not to be scheduled against each other
• Giants and Jets games not to be scheduled against each other
• Seahawks, Raiders, 49ers, and Chargers games to start later than 10 AM PT for home games
• Hot weather games (Chargers, Cardinals, Dolphins, etc.) to start later than 1 PM ET for home games before November
• Cold weather games (Giants, Jets, Patriots, etc.) to not air night games in December
• Primetime (Sunday/Monday/Thursday Night Football) airing of as many playoff rematches and marquee game rematches from the previous season as possible
• Primetime featuring the 49ers vs Raiders and/or Giants vs Jets, regardless of how the teams performed the previous season
• Primetime featuring a rematch of the Super Bowl, or previous Super Bowls if both teams are still relevant
• Primetime featuring the last 2 Super Bowl winners
• Primetime featuring intriguing storylines involving notable free agent moves and trades made in the offseason
• *NEW* Each of the 32 teams receiving at least 1 appearance on primetime

Well, the final schedule has now been released, so we can finally take a look at what every primetime game will be. The Sunday, Monday, and Thursday night games (with notes!), after the break.

Sunday Night Football:

1. Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants (Division Rivalry)
2. Pittsburgh Steelers vs Denver Broncos (AFC Wild Card Rematch, debut of P. Manning as a Bronco)
3. Detroit Lions vs San Francisco 49ers  (The Handshake Part 2)
4. New England Patriots vs Baltimore Ravens (AFC Championship Rematch)
5. New York Giants vs Philadelphia Eagles (Division Rivalry)
6. San Diego Chargers vs New Orleans Saints (D. Brees vs ex-protege P. Rivers)
7. Green Bay Packers vs Houston Texans
8. Pittsburgh Steelers vs Cincinnati Bengals (Division Rivalry)
9. New Orleans Saints vs Denver Broncos (Possible conflict with World Series, Super Bowl XLIV rematch of D. Brees vs P. Manning)
10. Dallas Cowboys vs Atlanta Falcons
11. Houston Texans vs Chicago Bears (Veterans' Day)
12. Baltimore Ravens vs Pittsburgh Steelers (Division Rivalry)
13. New England Patriots vs New York Jets (Thanksgiving, Division Rivalry)
14. Green Bay Packers vs New York Giants (NFC Divisional Rematch)
15. Philadelphia Eagles vs Dallas Cowboys (Division Rivalry)
16. Detroit Lions vs Green Bay Packers (Division Rivalry)
17. San Francisco 49ers vs New England Patriots (T. Brady vs hometown team)
18. San Diego Chargers vs New York Jets

There's a lot of stupid emphasis on the NFC East like most years, because NBC has some kind of hard-on for that division. The Giants and Patriots rightfully appear 3 times, having appeared in the Super Bowl, while the 49ers and Ravens appear twice, having appeared in the NFC and AFC Championship. Every single team that made the playoffs also appears at least once, with the Falcons and Bengals having only 1 appearance after unremarkable performances. The Jets are notably scheduled twice later in the season (Thanksgiving and the final scheduled SNF of the season) due to speculation that Tim Tebow may become the Jets' starting QB by then. The SNF schedule overall gets an A- for having excellent matchups, but too much emphasis on the NFC East, a weak division last year.

Monday Night Football:

1. Cincinnati Bengals vs Baltimore Ravens (Division Rivalry)
2. San Diego Chargers vs Oakland Raiders (Division Rivalry)
3. Denver Broncos vs Atlanta Falcons (Super Bowl XXXIII Rematch)
4. Green Bay Packers vs Seattle Seahawks (A. Rodgers vs ex-protege M. Flynn)
5. Chicago Bears vs Dallas Cowboys
6. Houston Texans vs New York Jets
7. Denver Broncos vs San Diego Chargers (Division Rivalry)
8. Detroit Lions vs Chicago Bears (Division Rivalry)
9. San Francisco 49ers vs Arizona Cardinals (Division Rivalry, possible conflict with World Series)
10. Philadelphia Eagles vs New Orleans Saints
11. Kansas City Chiefs vs Pittsburgh Steelers
12. Chicago Bears vs San Francisco 49ers
13. Carolina Panthers vs Philadelphia Eagles (2011 ROY C. Newton MNF debut)
14. New York Giants vs Washington Redskins (Division Rivalry, R. Griffin III primetime debut)
15. Houston Texans vs New England Patriots
16. New York Jets vs Tennessee Titans
17. Atlanta Falcons vs Detroit Lions

The Giants and Patriots didn't get as much love from MNF, probably because they were already scheduled to play 3 games on Sunday night. The AFC West also got a strange amount of love, featuring all 4 teams at least once. Every playoff team from last season is featured at least once, although the Falcons and Lions make 2 appearances over the Ravens, who only make 1. The Jets also curiously appear late in the schedule, possibly for the same reason SNF scheduled the Jets late. The MNF schedule gets a B- for featuring every playoff team and showing teams outside the NFC East, but having odd matchups (Chiefs vs Steelers?).

Thursday Night Football:

1. Chicago Bears vs Green Bay Packers (Division Rivalry)
2. New York Giants vs Carolina Panthers (2011 ROY C. Newton primetime debut)
3. Cleveland Browns vs Baltimore Ravens (Division Rivalry)
4. Arizona Cardinals vs St. Louis Rams (Division Rivalry)
5. Pittsburgh Steelers vs Tennessee Titans
6. Seattle Seahawks vs San Francisco 49ers (Division Rivalry)
7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Minnesota Vikings (World Series conflict)
8. Kansas City Chiefs vs San Diego Chargers (Division Rivalry)
9. Indianapolis Colts vs Jacksonville Jaguars (A. Luck primetime debut)
10. Miami Dolphins vs Buffalo Bills (Division Rivalry)
11. New Orleans Saints vs Atlanta Falcons (Division Rivalry)
12. Denver Broncos vs Oakland Raiders (Division Rivalry)
13. Cincinnati Bengals vs Philadelphia Eagles

The NFL wasn't kidding when they said every team would get a primetime game. The Thursday night games are some of the worst matchups, but the NFL did a good job at least making the games competitive for the teams few want to see and actively trying to avoid stealing viewership from the World Series. Most of last year's playoff teams make an appearance on Thursday, although no team appears more than once. Depending on the Vikings stadium deal going through the next few weeks, the Buccaneers vs Vikings matchup could become more intriguing if the Vikings end up moving. The AFC West gets a bizarre amount of love again, as does the NFC West. The TNF schedule gets a C+ for at least filling the schedule with division rivalries, showcasing Andrew Luck later in the season, and for giving the Giants and 49ers a total of 5 primetime games.

Thanksgiving will also feature the following:

Thanksgiving

• Houston Texans vs Detroit Lions
• Washington Redskins vs Dallas Cowboys

The usual customary appearances of the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys, this time facing the Houston Texans and Washington Redskins, respectively. ESPN hilariously tried to hype Texans vs Lions as being a possible Super Bowl preview, but that is highly unlikely unless the Lions greatly improve their defense. Despite that, Thanksgiving looks to be a great day for football.

Through sheer luck and coincidence, the pre-planned divisions matching up create fantastic games around the league, because there's more games outside of the primetime games. Here are the most notable non-primetime games of each week:

Afternoon Games:

1. San Francisco 49ers vs Green Bay Packers (A. Smith vs A. Rodgers)
2. New Orleans Saints vs Carolina Panthers (Division Rivalry)
3. Houston Texans vs Denver Broncos
4. New Orleans Saints vs Green Bay Packers (Previous 2 Super Bowl Champions)
5. Denver Broncos vs New England Patriots (AFC Divisional rematch, P. Manning vs T. Brady)
6. New York Giants vs San Francisco 49ers (NFC Championship rematch)
7. Baltimore Ravens vs Houston Texans (AFC Divisional rematch)
8. Atlanta Falcons vs Philadelphia Eagles (M. Vick vs Falcons)
9. Pittsburgh Steelers vs New York Giants
10. Denver Broncos vs Carolina Panthers (P. Manning vs C. Newton)
11. Green Bay Packers vs Detroit Lions (Division Rivalry)
12. San Francisco 49ers vs New Orleans Saints (NFC Divisional rematch, post-Bounty scandal meeting)
13. Pittsburgh Steelers vs Baltimore Ravens (Division Rivalry)
14. San Diego Chargers vs Pittsburgh Steelers (P. Rivers vs B. Roethlisberger)
15. New York Giants vs Atlanta Falcons (NFC Wild Card rematch)
16. New York Giants vs Baltimore Ravens (Super Bowl XXXV rematch)
17. Division Rivalry Week

Other games are not as strong throughout the year, but there ALWAYS surprises every season. Who knows, a lot of these games I declared to be awesome might be terrible and some of the games I thought would be bad might end up being good or important!