The Basics : The Where

Today, we’re going to talk about where all of this football play happens, in two parts:

Part I : The Field

A football field is 100 yards long and 53 yards wide. Each end zone is 10 yards long and is in addition to the field (so the entire field measures 120 yards).  The 20 yards prior to each end zone is referred to as the “red zone” because it’s where all of the important stuff goes down. At the back of each end zone is a goal post (the “uprights”) into which field goals and extra points are kicked.

Part II : The Locations

Geographically, there are 32 teams located all over the United States. The NFL is arranged in two conferences comprised of four divisions each – a north, south, east, and west component for each division – with four teams in each division. (We went over this briefly last week as well.)

Teams have an equal number of home and away games (eight each). The away games are determined on a rotating schedule so that eventually all of the teams get to play each other – but not all in the same season.

Sometimes games are played in Canada and London. It’s strange but true.