The Falcons, who have posted four consecutive winning seasons, were given the royal treatment by the NFL’s schedule maker Tuesday with four prime-time appearances during the 2012 season.
Legendary quarterback Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos will face the Falcons on “Monday Night Football” at 8:30 p.m. Sept. 17 in the team’s home opener at the Georgia Dome.
The Falcons also will play Dallas, New Orleans and Detroit in nationally televised games. The maximum number of national appearances for any team is five.
Also Tuesday, the Falcons released their complete exhibition schedule. They will play home games against Baltimore (7:30 p.m. Aug. 9) and Cincinnati (8 p.m. Aug. 16) and road game against Miami (7:30 p.m. Aug. 24) and Jacksonville (6:30 p.m. Aug. 30). The game against Cincinnati will be televised nationally by Fox.
Here’s the full regular-season schedule:
Sept. 9 at Kansas City (1 p.m., Fox): The Falcons won 38-14 on Sept. 21, 2008.
Sept. 17 vs. Denver (8:30 p.m., ESPN): After playing 13 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and missing last season, Manning is trying to revive his career.
Sept. 23 at San Diego (4:05 p.m., Fox): In Michael Turner's homecoming game, he rushed 31 times for 120 yards in a 22-16 victory over his former team Nov. 30. 2008.
Sept. 30 vs. Carolina (1 p.m., Fox): The Falcons swept Cam Newton and the Panthers last season.
Oct. 7 at Washington (1 p.m., Fox): If the Redskins select Baylor's Robert Griffin III, he could be playing his fifth NFL game.
Oct. 14 vs. Oakland (1 p.m., CBS): The Raiders have a new general manager in former Green Bay exec Reggie McKenzie.
Oct. 28 at Philadelphia (1 p.m., Fox): Fans finally got the Michael Vick vs. Matt Ryan matchup last season, and Ryan won. Vick committed three turnovers and was knocked out of the game.
Nov. 4 vs. Dallas (8:20 p.m., NBC): Former Falcons linebacker Keith Brooking's celebration got out of hand after the Cowboys defeated the Falcons 37-21 on Oct. 25, 2009.
Nov. 11 at New Orleans (1 p.m., Fox): Last season, New Orleans defeated the Falcons 26-23 in overtime at the Georgia Dome after a failed fourth-down conversion and routed the Falcons 45-16 in New Orleans on Dec. 26.
Nov. 18 vs. Arizona (1 p.m., Fox): The Falcons thumped the Cardinals 41-7 on Sept. 11, 2010, at the Georgia Dome.
Nov. 25 at Tampa Bay (1 p.m., Fox): Greg Schiano, the former Rutgers coach, is the Bucs' new head man. The two teams split last season.
Nov. 29 vs. New Orleans (8:20 p.m., NFL Network): The Saints should have their players back from any Bounty-gate suspensions.
Dec. 9 at Carolina (1 p.m., Fox): In the teams' second meeting last season, the Falcons rallied to win.
Dec. 16 vs. New York Giants (1 p.m., Fox): The defending Super Bowl champions have the most difficult schedule in the league based on opponents' 2011 records.
Dec. 22 at Detroit (8:30 p.m., ESPN): This was a hotly contested battle last season at Ford Field. Falcons center Todd McClure said Detroit's Ndamukong Suh and Cliff Avril were poor sports.
Dec. 30 vs. Tampa Bay (1 p.m., Fox): The second meeting could have playoff ramifications.
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