NEW YORK (AP) - Eli Manning will face the team he snubbed last year in prime time this September.
The full NFL schedule, released Wednesday, also contains a rare full slate of Saturday afternoon games on Christmas Eve, the first full Saturday since 1995. The season will end with a full schedule on New Year's Day, a Sunday.
Manning, who told the Chargers not to take him with the first pick in last year's draft, will quarterback the New York Giants in San Diego on Sunday, Sept. 25 in a game to be televised by ESPN at 8:30 p.m. EST. Manning was chosen anyway by the Chargers, who then traded him to New York for Philip Rivers and additional draft choices after the Giants took Rivers fourth overall.
The four highlight games of the first weekend were announced last month.
They include the season opener, Oakland at New England on Thursday, Sept. 8, part of the new policy to have the Super Bowl champions open the season on a Thursday night. The other games are Indianapolis at Baltimore on Sunday night, Sept. 11; Dallas at San Diego as the doubleheader game Sunday; and NFC champion Philadelphia at Atlanta the next night.
On Oct. 2, San Francisco and Arizona will play the first regular-season game outside the United States, meeting in a night game in Mexico City. The Cardinals will be the home team.
Among the featured games is a Monday night contest Nov. 7 with Indianapolis and two-time MVP Peyton Manning at New England. The Colts have lost five straight to the Patriots and Manning is 0-7 in Foxboro, including playoff losses the last two years.
Another prime Monday night matchup is on Oct. 10, when Pittsburgh is at San Diego in a meeting of two teams among the strongest in the league last season.
