2012 NFL Schedules Released: Giants, Cowboys and Week 1's Top 5 Games

On Tuesday, the NFL held its annual schedule release spectacle on ESPN.

During the program, we finally found out where Peyton Manning would be taking his first snaps as a Denver Bronco and what defense he would be doing it against. 

Manning and the Broncos will be one of many huge stories as we head towards the 2012 NFL season.  Along with Peyton, another Manning has something to look forward to as well.

Eli Manning and the Giants, fresh off of their second Super Bowl victory in the past five years, look to prove, once again, that they are threats to any and every team that crosses their path during the season.

Despite the Manning brothers hogging much of the spotlight, there is far more intrigue in the NFL than just the family affair.  While this season has much at stake for each and every team, Week 1 will be one of the telling points for many teams.

Who's ready to fight for a championship?  Which players are poised for big years?  Can last year's playoff teams duplicate what they accomplished last year?

All of these questions, and more, will have some sort of answer to them in Week 1 of the NFL season.

Here are some of the key games from the first week of football all fans will have their eyes on.

Dalls Cowboys @ New York Giants, Thursday Night Kickoff

Why not begin where we left off last year?

Headed into a Week 17 showdown with one final playoff spot to be decided in the NFC, the New York Giants dominated the Dallas Cowboys with a 31-14 victory to clinch the fourth seed in the NFC and the NFC East division crown. 

From there, the Giants, once again, went on a remarkable playoff run that saw them headed home with another Super Bowl trophy to show off in New York. 

Don't think that Dallas has forgotten how close they were to being that team the Giants were.  Only one game came between them and the playoffs, something they will want to avenge in their opening night game in New York.

Tony Romo is coming off of a splendid season where he threw for over 4,000 yards, 30 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions.  The Cowboys as a whole struggled throughout the season, especially at the end of the year where they lost four of their final five games to miss the playoffs.

Normally, the Super Bowl Champions are paired against another team that made the playoffs on their opening night game.  Dallas getting this game gives them a chance to show the world last year is behind them and they are ready for a playoff run of their own.

New England Patriots @ Tennessee Titans, Sunday Afternoon

Picture Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson two years ago.  Works pretty elusively and effectively, doesn't he?

Now picture the Chris Johnson you watched play last year after his contract dispute saw him miss most all of off-season workouts with the team.  Not as impressive for all that money he was given, is he?

Regardless of how productive Johnson was last year, the Titans were a fairly good team in 2011, even pushing for one of the final playoff spots in the AFC until the final weeks of the season.  Johnson did rush for over 1,000 yards, but his four total touchdowns on the year are remarkably low for this young star's standards. 

Matt Hasselbeck came into Tennessee with the thought he would be used as a mentor for quarterback of the future Jake Locker.  Instead, Hasselbeck took his opportunity and shined in Tennessee, leading the Titans to a 9-7 record and throwing for over 3,500 yards.  Those yards, mind you, came without the Titans top receiver, Kenny Brit, for most of the season. 

With Brit back and a recharged Johnson, Tennessee is not a team to take lightly.

New England is another team that has something to prove this season. 

After their disappointing 21-17 loss in the Super Bowl to the Giants, Tom Brady will look to regain himself after the whirlwind of media publicity that came after the loss, most of which involved his wife more than it did him. 

Brady, once again, had a spectacular season, throwing for over 5,000 yards and 39 touchdowns.  One of the main reasons Brady was able to have such an outstanding year was the emergence of his new two favorite targets, tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski.

With the emergence of Gronkowski and Hernandez, Brady has some big bodies that can go up the middle of the field, relieving the pressure of the smaller Wes Welker in the process.

The Patriots are always a threat to make it to the Super Bowl, but now they must prove that they can win it again, something that would have seemed absurd to question a few years ago. 

Playing a young, up-and-coming Titans team in Week 1 will be a good test for the older, savvy Patriots.

San Francisco 49ers @ Green Bay Packers, Sunday Afternoon

Coming off of their best season with Alex Smith taking snaps from center, the San Francisco 49ers look to repeat their remarkable success from 2011 and put their playoff matchup against the Giants in the NFC Championship game behind them.

After a wild offseason for the 49ers that saw them let Smith go in hopes to land Peyton Manning and bring Smith back in when the project failed, Jim Harbaugh wants to show that his rookie season as a head coach was no fluke. 

Complete with one of, if not the best, defenses in the NFL and an offensive array that features Frank Gore, Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree, the 49ers are set to continue their winning ways.

On the other side of the spectrum, the Green Bay Packers, too, look to avenge their playoff loss to the eventual champion Giants. 

Aaron Rodgers had an outstanding year, earning himself MVP honors along with leading the Packers to a 15-1 regular-season record.  Over 4,600 yards, 45 touchdowns and a ridiculous six interceptions later, Rodgers is without a second ring.

There isn't much mystery about the Packers this season, despite their lack of a quality running game.  However, it will be very interesting to see how such a successful regular season to playoff disappointment will translate to a new season.

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Denver Broncos, Sunday Night

SPOILER ALERT: TIM TEBOW WILL NOT BE INVOLVED WITH THIS GAME. EVERYBODY UNDERSTAND? OKAY.

Now that that's out of the way, we look to the matchup itself.

First, the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

The Steelers dealt with a lot of injuries this past season, most notably Ben Roethlisberger's injured foot in their Wild Card-round loss to the Broncos in Denver and his trusty center, Maurkice Pouncey, who also had a foot injury. 

Now the Steelers deal with a permanent loss in potential Hall of Fame wide receiver Hines Ward, who announced his retirement this offseason.

While Ward may not have been an integral part of the offense, he provided a veteran presence for young receivers Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown.  His stats may not have shown it, but his absence on the field this year will be felt in some capacity.

Also returning from injury, Rashard Mendenhall looks to get back on track after missing the playoff loss.  With healthy offensive players combined with the always dangerous and intense defense they possess, Pittsburgh is primed to get back on the winning track.

Denver, in case you haven't heard, brought in some guy named Peyton Manning to play the quarterback position.  Sources say Peyton is pretty good.  However, Manning is also coming off of multiple neck surgeries that caused him to miss all of last year and subsequently led to his release from the Indianapolis Colts. 

Aside from Manning, the Broncos have a young, talented team that could do some great things as a team.  Yes, I know, it does sound a little crazy to think the Broncos can be good without Tebow, but it's the truth.

Wide receiver Demaryius Thomas has the size, speed and hands to be a great receiver in the NFL.  His stat line of 551 yards and four touchdowns does not do this talented young man justice, since last season he was relegated to a glorified blocker in the Tebow-run offense.

Alongside Thomas is Eric Decker, whom has already earned some praise from Manning himself. 

Von Miller, Elvis Dumerville, Brian Dawkins and Champ Bailey headline the tough Broncos defense that kept them in every game last season that they earned victories in.  The defense, overall, never got the respect they deserved for their work because of their former quarterback having the world in the palm of his hand last year. 

This will be a huge test for Manning and the Broncos right out of the gates.  Surely, the Steelers defense will be looking to test how game-ready Peyton is and see how well he responds from taking a few hits.

Cincinnati Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens, Monday Night Football

Two of last season's biggest surprises meeting in the first Monday Night Football game of the season is sure to spark up some great interest in Week 1 action.

With one surprise, we have the Cincinnati Bengals, a team who shocked everyone and took a very young team into the playoffs. 

Even with a rookie quarterback in Andy Dalton and rookie wide receiver in AJ Green, the Bengals not only went to the playoffs, but they also put up one helluva fight against the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round. 

Dalton threw for over 3,000 yards in his rookie campaign as well as scored 20 touchdowns in the process.  Sure, he did throw 13 interceptions, but if Dalton can have those kind of stats and the Bengals fight for playoff spots year-in and year-out, I don't think they will have a problem with that. 

In the other surprise of the season, we have the Baltimore Ravens.  Not that their success was a surprise, but it was the way in which the Ravens lost to the Patriots in the AFC Championship game that was a surprise. 

Poor Billy Cundiff.  It's easy to say he should have hit that field goal that would have sent the game into overtime, but the Ravens rallied around their kicker and have continued to support him, citing their hunger to get back to that game this season. 

One of the biggest concerns for the Ravens this season isn't on the field, but rather in the war room.

Ray Rice wants to get paid and the Ravens have chosen to focus on him a little later, slapping the Franchise tag on their star running back.  Now, Rice has gone on record in saying that he isn't happy about the situation, but he has also stated that he won't let it get in the way of playing football.

On the field, the Ravens will continue to have a star-studded team.  Complete  with their super-confident quarterback Joe Flacco, Rice, receivers Anquan Boldin and Lee Evans and their stud veteran defenders Ray Lewis and Ed Reed still running the show, the Ravens are early favorites in a loaded AFC North sans the Cleveland Browns.

Now the question is, which team will make their mark in the opening week?