NFL schedule: Showdowns will start season right

There's a reason the NFL is TV's biggest media property. The league will immediately grab viewers at kickoff of the 2012 regular season with game matchups that should draw huge audiences.

And NBC Sports looks like the early winner, telecasting the Super Bowl-champion New York Giants opening the season in prime time against the Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday, Sept. 5, and Peyton Manning's first game with the Denver Broncos— at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers in prime time on Sunday, Sept. 9.

"There's a lot of interesting subplots. I don't think opening weekend can get any better than it is," NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth says. "The Giants and Cowboys are always classic. Now the Giants are the world champs. Of course, the Cowboys are always the ultimate draw. With Peyton Manning, why not give him a nice easy game in his home opener — having to go out there against the Steelers, which is perfect."

Then in Week 2, NBC's Sunday Night Football gets a grudge match: the Detroit Lions at the San Francisco 49ers. Who can forget Lions coach Jim Schwartz going nuts and chasing 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh down the sideline after Harbaugh slapped him on the back following a game last year.

"Those are two of the most crazy, competitive guys that you'll find. That game could be just be ridiculous," Collinsworth says.

ESPN and NFL Network devoted three-hour, yes three-hour, shows to Tuesday's 7 p.m ET release of the schedule. Both shows worked for the first hour, then got progressively weaker.

But Collinsworth says he'd never underestimate viewers' appetite for NFL news.

This article was written by Michael McCarthy and appeared in USA Today.