The Broncos will host the Steelers on Sept. 9 in the NFL regular season opener.

The game brings the Steelers back to the place where they last lost to the Broncos.

The Broncos beat the Steelers in the first round of the playoffs last season when now former quarterback Tim Tebow led the Broncos to a 29-23 win in overtime.

Tebow is now gone, traded to the New York Jets, after the Broncos signed Manning as the new quarterback.

Steelers at Broncos is one of four prime-time games in the league's kickoff week, Sept. 5-10. The schedule, released Tuesday, has the Super Bowl champion Giants hosting the Cowboys in the first Wednesday NFL game since 1948; the league moved the game to avoid a conflict with President Barack Obama's Thursday night speech at the Democratic National Convention.

The now-traditional Monday night opening doubleheader has Cincinnati at Baltimore, followed by San Diego at Oakland.

A 14-week package of Thursday night games begins in Week 2 with Chicago at Green Bay. The Thanksgiving games are Houston at Detroit, Washington at Dallas and, in prime time, New England at the New York Jets.

9NEWS spoke with Broncos Executive Vice President John Elway just after the schedule was released and he said they expected much of it, knowing at the end of last season what teams lay ahead.

"It's a tough schedule, it's a great schedule. It's a great schedule for the fans and we knew as a football team that we were going to be ready for - that we were going to be ready week in and week out. And I think that obviously if you look at those first seven games, you know, five of them are playoff teams as well as the other two being our division rivals. So we've got our hands full but we'll be ready for the challenge," Elway said.

The schedule includes five prime time games, something Elway attributed to his new quarterback.

"Obviously we're excited about that. Any time you have a guy behind the center named Peyton Manning you're going to get a lot of attention. I think it's going to be exciting. We're looking forward to it obviously. The offseason program got started yesterday and I think the excitement in the building is great. And then with the schedule coming out today, you know as we said, it's a difficult one, but you know I think everybody in the league is going to look at their schedule and say it's difficult. Now you just have to take them one at a time and play like we're capable of playing," Elway said.

Elway also talked to 9NEWS about having to face the Steelers again, this time in the home opener.

"When you open at home there's always more pressure on you because you've got to win those home games," Elway said. You always look at those openers and you know everybody's going to be healthy and you've got to see what you're made of coming out of preseason. So we're excited about that opener with the Steelers."

Another big game on the schedule is the trip to New England to face the Patriots in Week 5.

"Any time you play the Patriots, whether it's here or there, we played them twice last year and obviously they took it to us pretty good in the divisional round of the playoffs last year," Elway said. "Plus, it's a rekindling with Tom [Brady] and Peyton, who've had that great rivalry for so long. And so you know any time you go into New England it's going to be tough, but it'll also show us where we are at the time."

Here is the rest of the Broncos' schedule:

PRESEASON

Thursday, Aug. 9 - at Chicago Bears - 6:30 p.m. on Channel 20.

Saturday, Aug. 18 - Seattle Seahawks at Sports Authority Field at Mile High - 7 p.m. on 9NEWS.

Sunday, Aug. 26 - San Francisco 49ers at Sports Authority Field at Mile High -2 p.m. on FOX.

Thursday, Aug. 30 - at Arizona Cardinals - 9 p.m. on Channel 20.

REGULAR SEASON

Week 1 - Sunday, Sept. 9 - Pittsburgh Steelers at Sports Authority Field at Mile High - 6:20 p.m. on 9NEWS.

Week 2 - Monday, Sept. 17 - at Atlanta Falcons - 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Week 3 - Sunday, Sept. 23 - Houston Texas at Sports Authority Field at Mile High - 2:15 p.m. on CBS.

Week 4 - Sunday, Sept. 30 - Oakland Raiders at Sports Authority Field at Mile High - 2:05 p.m. on CBS.

Week 5 - Sunday, Oct. 7 - at New England Patriots - 2:15 p.m. on CBS.

Week 6 - Monday, Oct. 15 - at San Diego Chargers - 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Week 7 - BYE

Week 8 - Sunday, Oct. 28 - New Orleans Saints at Sports Authority Field at Mile High - 6:20 p.m. on 9NEWS.

Week 9 - Sunday, Nov. 4 - at Cincinnati Bengals - 11 a.m. on CBS.

Week 10 - Sunday, Nov. 11 - at Carolina Panthers - 11 a.m. on CBS.

Week 11 - Sunday, Nov. 18 - San Diego Chargers at Sports Authority Field at Mile High - 2:15 p.m. on CBS.*

Week 12 - Sunday, Nov. 25 - at Kansas City Chiefs - 11 a.m. on CBS.*

Week 13 - Sunday, Dec. 2 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Sports Authority Field at Mile High - 2:05 p.m. on FOX.*

Week 14 - Thursday, Dec. 6 - at Oakland Raiders - 6:20 p.m. on NFL Network.

Week 15 - Sunday, Dec. 16 - at Baltimore Ravens - 11 a.m. on CBS.*

Week 16 - Sunday, Dec. 23 - Cleveland Browns at Sports Authority Field at Mile High - 2:05 p.m. on CBS.*

Week 17 - Sunday, Dec. 30 - Kansas City Chiefs at Sports Authority Field at Mile High - 2:15 p.m. on CBS.*

* means it is a flex game and could be moved to Sunday night.

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