NEW YORK, April 18 (UPI) -- The NFL released its 2013 regular-season schedule Thursday, one that includes two games that will be played in London and another in Canada.
The 256-game season will open Thursday, Sept. 5, as previously announced, and will conclude Dec. 29 with all 16 games on that day bringing together division rivals.
Super Bowl XLVIII will complete the playoff schedule Feb. 2, a game that will be played in East Rutherford, N.J.
Defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore will visit Denver to kick off the season in the Sept. 5 contest. It will be a rematch of last year's double-overtime game played in the divisional round of the playoffs.
The Sunday night schedule will open with the Dallas Cowboys at home against the New York Giants Sept. 8, and the first Monday night games of the season will be conducted Sept. 9. Philadelphia will visit Washington in the first game on that Monday night, followed by Houston's visit to San Diego.
There will be three games played on Thanksgiving Day -- Green Bay at Detroit, Oakland at Dallas and Pittsburgh at Baltimore.
The NFL will send teams to London's Wembley Stadium for games on Sept. 29 and Oct. 27. Minnesota will be the home team for the first of those contests and will take on Pittsburgh. Jacksonville will be the host one month later when the Jaguars play San Francisco.
Buffalo and Atlanta will play in Toronto Dec. 1. It will mark the sixth straight year the Bills have played a game in Canada.
The Thursday night schedule will start Sept. 12 with a matchup of New England and the New York Jets.
Byes will begin in the fourth week of the season and extend through the 12th week.
