Giants will open 2012 vs. Cowboys

Atypical of the NFL owners meetings, they love to give NFL fans a small glimpse of what's to come this fall by highlighting a couple NFL games a month before the schedule is announced.

Accordingly last night, the NFL made it known that the World Champion New York Giants will play host to the Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday September 5 at 8:30 on NBC. As most know, the game was originally scheduled for Thursday night, but since President Barack Obama is delivering his DNC speech on Thursday, NBC and the NFL decided to push the game back to Wednesday.

This will mark the third straight Dallas-Giants game to be broadcast on NBC, which must be driving executives at FOX Sports nuts. This also marks the second straight year that the Giants open the season against the same team they closed out the previous season. In 2010, the G-Men finished the year at Washington, then opened 2011 in Washington. This past season, Big Blue closed out the regular season at home against Dallas, and now open up against them.

This is also the second straight year the Cowboys thrust themselves into the opening night spotlight at MetLife Stadium. Last season, they opened at the Jets on the 10th Anniversary evening for 9/11.

Many thought the Green Bay Packers would be scheduled for this game, but the NFL decided to go with a clash between division rivals. This is the first time the two clubs open the season against each other since the 2007 season, when the Giants visited old Dallas Stadium on a Sunday night, and the second time in the last five seasons that New York will NOT open the season against the Redskins.

There are also rumors that Eli Manning's big brother, Peyton, will lead the Broncos into the Sunday night season opener on September 9. The most likely opponent for the Broncos that evening will be the Patriots, Steelers, Chargers, or Texans.

The full schedule will be released in three weeks.