The NFL officially announced the date for the 2012 NFL season opener. Instead of the normal Thursday night contest, the NFL has pushed it back a day to Wednesday September 5. President Obama is giving his Democratic National Convention Speech Thursday night and the league did not want a conflict (no political discussion, just giving the NFL's official reason).

The Giants will host the game, which rules out the 49ers as a potential opponent. As first place finishers, the 49ers and Giants will square off, but the 49ers will host the game for the second straight season. The Giants have home games set up against the Packers and Saints. Much like Big Blue View, I would imagine Giants-Packers is a virtual certainty to open the season.

For the 49ers, the list of opponents provides quite a few possibilities for prime time games. I would guess the team could get upwards of four prime time games (SNF, MNF, TNF) over the course of the season. It is not a pretty schedule of road opponents with the 49ers having to travel to Green Bay, New Orleans and New England. They are potentially winnable games, but it still is a rough slate.

49ers Home Opponents: Bears, Giants, Lions, Dolphins, Bills, Rams, Cardinals, Seahawks

49ers Away Opponents: Packers, Saints, Vikings, Patriots, Jets, Rams, Cardinals, Seahawks