Week 1 - vs. Dallas Cowboys (Wed., Sept. 5, 8:30 p.m., NBC)
We already knew about this one. Should be an interesting game.
Week 2 – vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Sun., Sept. 16, 1 p.m., FOX)
Greg Schiano and Mike Sullivan return to New Jersey, coincidentally on the same weekend when Rutgers travels to Tampa to face South Florida.
Week 3 – at Carolina Panthers (Thurs., Sept. 20, 8:20 p.m., NFL Network and a local station TBD)
So after an 11-day layoff after their first game, the Giants will rest for only three days before having to chase Cam Newton all over the field. The good news is they’ll then have 10 days to rest before their next game, though you wonder if all of this stop-and-start stuff will mess with their early-season rhythm. (See Coughlin’s quote above.)
Week 4 – at Philadelphia Eagles (Sun., Sept. 30, 8:20 p.m., NBC)
So the Eagles didn’t quite pan out the way everybody expected last season after they added what seemed like half of the free-agent class. But they won their last four games and will now have had an entire offseason for all of their pieces to come together. They’ll be the trendy pick among many to make a big run and that will surely irritate and fire up the Giants.
Week 5 – vs. Cleveland Browns (Sun., Oct. 7, 1 p.m. CBS)
Could be a rookie quarterback under center for Cleveland. Or it could be Colt McCoy. Either way, given this schedule, man do the Giants need to take care of business here. I can already foresee the references I’ll be making to the loss to the Seattle Seahawks last season.
Week 6 – at San Francisco 49ers (Sun., Oct. 14, 4:15 p.m., FOX)
It’s a rematch of the NFC Championship Game and a meeting with former Giants Brandon Jacobs and Mario Manningham. So yeah, it should be a fun week leading up to this one.
Week 7 – vs. Washington Redskins (Sun., Oct. 21, 1 p.m., FOX)
Should all go as expected, Robert Griffin III will have had six weeks to adjust to life in the NFL before seeing the Giants’ pass rushers in front of him.
Week 8 – at Cowboys (Sun., Oct. 28, 4:15 p.m., FOX)
This will mark the first time since 2005 the Giants and Cowboys will play an afternoon game in Texas. Every other game down there since then (not counting the 2008 Divisional Playoff Game) was a Sunday Night Football or Monday Night Football broadcast.
Week 9 – vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (Sun., Nov. 4, 4:15 p.m., CBS)
Eli. Ben. Four Super Bowl rings total. Knotted at two apiece. How you like that trade now, Eli haters?
Week 10 – at Cincinnati Bengals (Sun., Nov. 11, 1 p.m., FOX)
New Giants linebacker Keith Rivers, acquired in a trade with the Bengals last week, will be looking forward to this one.
Week 11 – BYE
“I like the bye where it is, because it’s closer to the middle of the season,” Coughlin said.
Week 12 – vs. Green Bay Packers (Sun., Nov. 25, *8:20 p.m., NBC)
What could I possibly say to hype this game that isn’t already said just by looking at it? Yeah, it could be flexed but unless one of these teams falls off a cliff, expect this one to kick off at 8:30 p.m. Speaking of which, NBC and the NFL are still saying 8:20 p.m. for these games when we know Faith Hill is still singing her awful intro song right around then.
Week 13 – at Washington Redskins (Mon., Dec. 3, 8:30 p.m., ESPN)
At first blush, this looks like the tap-in among a tough slate of games to close this season out. But you know, I sorta recall saying that about a game against the Redskins last December…
Week 14 – vs. New Orleans Saints (Sun., Dec. 9, 4:15 p.m.*, FOX)
This will be the Saints’ eighth week with Joe Vitt as interim head coach after he sits out of the first six weeks. Sure, the issues up top are ones New Orleans will have to work through, but this is a very talented team who should be in contention.
Week 15 – at Atlanta Falcons (Sun., Dec. 16, 1 p.m.*, FOX)
By now, the legs are getting heavy and the tough opponents just keep showing up at kickoff, ready to try knocking off the defending champs. And you know the Falcons, whom the Giants eliminated in the Wild Card round this past season, will be counting down the seconds until they tee this one up.
Week 16 – at Baltimore Ravens (Sun., Dec. 23, 1 p.m.*, FOX)
Joe Flacco went all Eli Manning by saying he thinks he’s the best quarterback in the league. Will he be the latest to quiet the chuckling gallery?
Week 17 – vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Sun., Dec. 30, *1 p.m., FOX)
From the way-too-early-to-be-making-such-a-prediction department, I’ll say this one will be for the NFC East, a la the Giants-Cowboys game this past season.
per Garafolo
This post was edited by xnozx. on Apr 17 2012 05:18pm