The NFL will not be releasing the 2012 regular season until later this month, but there are those who are trying to piece together the opening day match-ups in advance. Each team already knows who their opponents will be next season, as the NFL is the only major sport who schedule is actually a specific formula on it's own rotating schedule as well.
The very first opening day game has been announced, as the regular season, which usually opens on a Thursday night, will actually be held on a Wednesday evening, so as not to conflict with a speech on Thursday night by President Barrack Obama. The Super Bowl champion New York Giants will host the Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday, September 5, 2012 to begin the regular season.
There is an unofficial regular season schedule circulating recently, but it has already been labeled as a fake, as it has the Ravens opening up at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers, which I would be real surprised that the league would do that to Pittsburgh, much less for Baltimore a second year in a row. Expect the Ravens to open the 2012 regular season on the road after opening 2011 at home, as with the level of security the NFL has in place, it's highly doubtful the full regular season schedule could have been leaked so much in advance.
However, with the Denver Broncos signing QB Peyton Manning, there is additional hype for the league to capitalize on by featuring his new team on prime time that first week of the season. While the Ravens will play the Broncos in Baltimore in 2012, the only way they could play them the first weekend of the regular season would be on Monday Night Football, as the Baltimore Orioles have a home game scheduled for that Sunday afternoon.
Most likely, the NFL would prefer to have the Broncos open their season in Denver in front of his new hometown fans, and although that unofficial schedule does indeed have the Broncos opening at home on national television, hosting the Houston Texans.
The supposedly leaked although most likely fake 2012 NFL regular season schedule has the Ravens playing one Thursday Night Football game (@ Cleveland Browns), two Sunday Night Football games (hosting Cincinnati Bengals & Broncos) and one Monday Night Football game (@ Texans).
Don't put much credence in this schedule, although it is fun to debate and dissect the possibilities. The league is closely guarding the schedule and has planned to release it later this month, just before the NFL Draft which begins on Thursday evening, April 26th.