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Maryland Just Fourth State To Host Two NFL Playoff Games

By: Matt Bush // January 4, 2013
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The Redskins are considered underdogs against the Seahawks, while the Ravens have the odds edge over the Colts.
Daniel O'Neill: http://www.flickr.com/photos/juggernautco/5647809356/
The Redskins are considered underdogs against the Seahawks, while the Ravens have the odds edge over the Colts.

On Sunday, the state of Maryland will play host to two NFL playoff games. As it turns out, one state hosting two NFL playoff games is even rarer than it seems.

The Ravens host the Colts in Baltimore at 1 p.m., while the Redskins take on the Seahawks at FedEx Field in Landover at 4:30 p.m. It will be only the fourth time in NFL history that two playoff games are played in the same state on the same day.

The rarity is attributable to many factors. There are only eight states with two NFL teams, and of course the teams in those states have to play well enough to make the post-season. Of those eight states, there are two where the playoff doubleheader can't occur: New Jersey, where the Giants and Jets play in the same stadium, and Ohio, because the Bengals and Browns are in the same conference, and there's only one AFC and NFC playoff game per day in the postseason.

  • Texas was the first state where the doubleheader happened in 1994. The Houston Oilers and Dallas Cowboys were both home on the same day.
  • Florida was next in 2000, with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers both at home. The Redskins lost the Bucs on that day, by the way.
  • In 2005, Pennsylvania became the only state to host both conference championship games in the same day, with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles at home.

That this is Maryland's first time is no big shock. Sunday will be only the second time the Redskins have hosted a playoff game since moving to Landover, Md., in 1997, which was a year after the Ravens moved to Baltimore from Cleveland.

California and Missouri are the other states where the doubleheader could occur, but has hasn't yet.

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