Following is the Tentative NFL Schedule:
NFL KickoffGame: The entire 2012 season tentativelywill begin on Thursday, September 6, 2012, at the home of the defending Super BowlXLVI champion. September 6 is also the last day of the 2012 Democratic National Convention,and the league has yet to announce if they will repeat what they did four yearsearlier when they moved the Kickoff Game earlier to 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time toaccommodate the last day of the 2008 Republican Convention.
International Series:Beginning in the 2012 season, there will be two games played as part of theInternational Series at least one of which is expected to be played at theseries' de factopermanenthome, Wembley Stadium in London,England. The location of the second game has not been announced,although contenders include locations in Ireland, Scotland and Wales.Based on previous seasons, the game or games will likely occur on eitherOctober 21 or October 28. Teams, as in previous years, are expected to beannounced in February.
Thanksgiving Classic:These games will occur on Thursday, November 22, 2012. The Detroit Lions willhost an AFC team—either the HoustonTexans or Indianapolis Colts—at 12:30 p.m. EST, while the DallasCowboys will host an NFC team, which is yet to bedetermined (the possibilities are the New YorkGiants, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers or the Chicago Bears,at 4:15 p.m. EST. The prime-time NBC game, featuring opponents yet to be announced, willbe featured at 8:20 p.m. EST.
Bills Toronto Series.The fifth and, under current contract, final regular-season game of the series,which sees the Buffalo Bills play in Toronto's Rogers Centre,is still being planned. Due to a re-emergence of late-season attendanceproblems at Ralph Wilson Stadium, the Toronto Seriesis likely to return to its original December schedule, after the end of the 2012 CFLseason. A preseason game will also be played as part of the series.
Christmas Eve:Christmas Eve falls on a Monday in 2012. In recent years, the league schedulesa prime-time NFL Network game on the Saturday of Weeks15 and 16 late in the season. The NFL tries to avoid scheduling games on theevening of Christmas Eve; however, in 2007,a Monday Night Christmas Eve gamebetween two western division teams was played at 8:00 p.m. EST (5:00 p.m. PST).The league may also choose to have an afternoon game on Christmas Eve, as itdid in 2004, when Christmas Eve fell on a Friday,although this will be dictated by the terms of the most recent contractextension agreed to in December 2011.
Thelast regular season games would be held on Sunday, December 30. The playoffswould then start on
Saturday, January 5, 2013. Super BowlXLVII, the league's championship game, will occur on February 3,
2013, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The league announcedthat it will consider trying to avoid scheduling Thursday Night games in which the
visiting team has to travel two or more time zones.The opponents for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game
will be announced sometime in February, while the entire regular season schedule will be announced in April.
Source:wikipedia
