Why isn't the Seahawks-Redskins game being played in Seattle?

Doesn’t the team with the better record get home field advantage?

You’d think so, but AFAIK, the team that wins its division, gets home field in a playoff against a team that didn’t win its division, even if the latter team has a better record.

Huh ok, thanks for the quick response. This begs the question though: aren’t the Redskins a wildcard team? How can they be a wildcard and also win their division?

Believe me now or wash my car on Saturday, the Redskins won the NFC East with their measly 10–6 record. ;-)

IIRC, the Giants and Cowbums both finished 8–8.

Right :) Still though, how can they be both division winners and a wildcard?

The Redskins aren’t a Wild Card Team.

The WC teams are the Vikings and the Seahawks.

I wasn’t very sure of the situation myself when I first answered your question, so hopefully this will provide some clarification for us: http://www.nfl.com/standings?category=div&season=2012-REG&split=Overall

Edit: to answer your question more directly, a playoff team can only be a Wild Card or a division winner, but not both in the same season. The NFL holds that these terms are mutually exclusive.

Gotcha, thanks @Brian1946!

This is “Wildcard Weekend” (in NFL promotional parlance), meaning the two wildcard teams in each conference play the two lower-ranked divisional winners in each conference – at the home fields of the divisional winners.

Washington happened to be one of the lower-ranked divisional winners in the NFC, so they host a wildcard playoff game, against Seattle. Should be a good one, too.

Go Seahawks!

@marinelife

The Seahawks have a better defense and reportedly RG3 will be wearing a knee brace, so I like their chances.

Because D.C. rules, my friend!
Because the Redskins rule, baby!

Go Redskins!!!!

Actually, I’ve been confused, too, about the home field advantage. I’d thought that the game would be played in Seattle.

Even if the Seahawks had the home field advantage, the game would still be played in Washington. ;-)

There’re two conferences: NFC and AFC.

Each conference has 4 divisions: north, south, east and west. Currently there are 4 teams in each division.

The winner of each division gets into the playoffs; their record in the conference doesn’t matter. They just have to be the best team in their division.

(Two years ago, the Seahawks were division winner and in the playoffs with a 7–9 record-a losing record! It was the first time a team with a losing record was in the playoffs. That caused a lot of soul-searching, but the rules weren’t changed.)

The two teams in the conference with the best record, but who weren’t division winners, become the wild card teams.

That’s how teams are selected for the playoffs.

Once they are in the playoffs, the divisional winners with the best records get the advantages. Teams 1 and 2 get a bye week. Teams 3 and 4 get homefield advantage against the wildcard teams. As the elimination continues, team 1 always has homefield advantage. Team 2 always has homefield advantage against everyone except team 1.

GO HAWKS!

@Brian1946 At first glance, I didn’t understand your response. Then, I remembered—Oh, that’s right, Washington’s the name of both a little city and a big state.

What was my biggest “Duh” moment—Briefly forgetting that Seattle’s located in Washington state, or feeling like a genius when I remembered? :-)

LOL I missed it too at first glance. And I live in Washington…the state.

@PaulSadieMartin @bossob

Props to you for solving my obliquely written puzzle after just one glance. :-)

Here’s another one, and this time I bet you’ll probably get it before you’ve completed your first reading:

If the Jets and the Bills were playing each other in the playoffs, and the Bills were the AFC East division winners, then the Jets would have to travel to the Bills’ home field, which is also in New York.

First of all, it’s not possible since the Bills haven’t been in the playoffs in this century!

The Bills are the only NFL team to play their home games within New York state. (Both the New York Giants and New York Jets play in East Rutherford, New Jersey.)

@bossob Yes, Scott Norwood played during the last century.

It is not the six best teams, it is the four Division winners and the two teams with the best overall record. Seahawks are one of the wildcards and the skins won the NFC East.

Poor RG3 just reinjured his right knee, while attempting to recover a dropped snap on about his 4-yard line. :-(
I think they should have brought in his backup, on the next offensive play after they saw him limping on the last QB option play.

Sorry about chaining this quip, but my edit time expired before the following event occurred:
I saw him walk off the field without a limp, so apparently he’ll be good to go next season.
Perhaps he didn’t really reinjure his knee. One announcer said that it “gave out….”.