New York, NY (My Sportsbook) - The NFL has announced its 17-week, 256-game regular-season schedule for 2007 and it will kick off on Thursday, September 6 when the Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts host the New Orleans Saints.

Kickoff weekend also features 13 Sunday games, highlighted by the prime-time matchup of NFC East rivals Dallas and the New York Giants at Texas Stadium. The Giants will play the Sunday night opener for the second straight season after last year's Manning Bowl against the Colts.

Sunday's action also includes a pair of big division rivalries. The New England Patriots visit the New York Jets in a playoff rematch from last season and the Cleveland Browns host the Pittsburgh Steelers. Another featured game on the opening Sunday has NFC champion Chicago at San Diego.

For the second straight season, the opening Monday night has a doubleheader with Baltimore visiting Cincinnati and San Francisco hosting Arizona.

In addition to the season-opener, the Colts will be featured at least twice more on prime-time, as they are also slated to play at AFC South rival Jacksonville on Monday, October 22 and at Atlanta on Thanksgiving night.

The New England Patriots, Indy's chief rivals of late, are scheduled for a visit to the RCA Dome on November 4. The Colts, who beat the Patriots for the AFC crown last season, will follow that game with a trip to San Diego to face last season's top regular-season team.

Flexible scheduling is also back for a second straight year, ensuring that Sunday night games feature quality matchups. The Colts, or a surprise team, could be late-season additions to the prime-time schedule on NBC for Weeks 11 through 17.

The league has tentatively scheduled Sunday night games this season, a switch from last year when the game was not revealed until 12 days before the scheduled contest. The 12-day window to make a change in the prime-time NBC game for the last seven weeks -- six days for the final week -- is again an option if the league and network so desire.

A playoff rematch between San Diego and New England, this time at Foxboro, is the highlight of the Week 2 schedule for Sunday night.

Byes begin on the season's fourth weekend, which also features a number of potential top matchups. That Sunday, September 30 includes a pair of AFC heavyweight tilts with Denver at Indianapolis and Kansas City at San Diego, while the Sunday night game pits Philadelphia at the New York Giants and the Monday night matchup has Cincinnati hosting New England.

A rematch of Super Bowl XL between Seattle and Pittsburgh is set for the Steel City on October 7 and the following Monday night has Dallas and new coach Wade Phillips visiting Buffalo, Phillips' old team.

October 28 includes the first NFL regular-season game in Europe, as the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants meet in London.

The last two NFC champions meet on Sunday night, November 18 when the Seahawks host the Bears. That weekend is the first for flexible scheduling.

Thanksgiving features the traditional games hosted by Detroit and Dallas. The Lions will welcome NFC North rival Green Bay, while the New York Jets visit the Cowboys. That weekend's Sunday night matchup is scheduled to be a rematch of Super Bowl XXXIX when Philadelphia visits New England, and the Monday night contest features Miami linebacker Joey Porter against his old team, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The last Sunday of the regular season includes an NFC Championship Game rematch when the New Orleans Saints again visit the Chicago Bears, while the tentative Sunday nighter has Kansas City Chiefs head coach Herman Edwards visiting his old team, the New York Jets.

Wild card weekend is set for January 5-6, with the Divisional playoffs the following weekend. The AFC and NFC championship games will be played Sunday, January 20 and the Super Bowl, which will be carried by FOX this season, is scheduled for February 3 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.