New York, NY (My Sportsbook) - The NFL announced its 17-week, 256-game regular season schedule for 2006 on Thursday and it will kickoff on Thursday, September 7 when the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers begin defense of their title against the Miami Dolphins.

The primetime game on Kickoff Weekend will feature the Manning brothers squaring off in New York, as Eli's Giants host Peyton's Indianapolis Colts. Also, Dallas will inaugurate the Terrell Owens-era in Jacksonville, and ESPN will start its reign as masters of Monday night with two games. The party will kickoff with the Daunte Culpepper-less Minnesota Vikings traveling to Washington for a 7:00 p.m. (et) start time. The second game of the night will feature the San Diego Chargers squaring off against the Oakland Raiders with a 10:15 p.m. (et) kickoff time.

Player moves this season have landed some familiar names on new teams, setting up interesting matchups for the coming campaign.

Dallas' offseason addition of Owens put an end to the drama that plagued Philadelphia for most of last year. Owens was a key component of the Eagles' drive to the Super Bowl during the 2004 season, but he was suspended or inactive for the final nine games of 2005 because of constant problems with the Eagles front office, head coach Andy Reid and teammates, beginning with an offseason desire to have his contract renegotiated.

The NFC East rivals will face off in Philadelphia on October 8 and the second game will be played on Christmas Day in the Lone Star State. The other game on Christmas night will pit the Miami Dolphins against the visiting New York Jets.

Culpepper has moved to a more hospitable climate in Miami. After spending his first seven seasons in Minnesota he was dealt to the Dolphins this offseason and will face his former team during Week 11 in south Florida.

Edgerrin James was signed as a free agent by the Arizona Cardinals and the move seems to have paid some dividends, at least schedule-wise. The Cardinals will play for the first time on Monday night since September 27, 1999 when they will host the Chicago Bears on October 16.

The New Orleans Saints will bring a ray of sunshine to their ravaged city when they return to the Superdome for the first time in over a year when they host the Atlanta Falcons for a Monday night game on September 25. Due to the incredible damage that the city and stadium sustained from Hurricane Katrina, the Saints faced a logistical nightmare as they fought through the 2005 season playing an entire season virtually on the road.

This season will feature three games on Thanksgiving Day. In addition to the usual Detroit and Dallas games, with the teams playing Miami and Tampa Bay, respectively, there will also be a night game with the Denver Broncos facing the Kansas City Chiefs.

Every week after Thanksgiving will feature a Thursday night game and the league will begin Saturday night games during Week 15 -- all to be televised by the NFL Network.

The league this year will implement a new policy called "flexible scheduling," which will ensure that the Sunday night games will feature quality matchups.

One game in seven of the last eight weeks will be shifted from an afternoon start to prime time for NBC's featured game of the week. The league must give at least 12 days notice for the switch, with the exception of Week 17 when a six-day period is in effect.

The playoffs begin the weekend of January 6-7 and the postseason will conclude with Super Bowl XLI at Dolphins Stadium in Miami on February 4.