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NFL Trivia

14 Questions 10 min
This NFL Trivia quiz focuses on National Football League scoring rules, overtime formats across eras, franchise relocations, and record and award categories that commonly get misread. It checks your ability to map question wording to the correct season, stat bucket, and championship context. Useful practice for sports writers, podcasters, sportsbook researchers, and aspiring analysts.
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1A drive summary shows “TD” but no try is listed yet. How many points is the touchdown itself worth?
2A field goal is worth 3 points in the NFL.

True / False

3You’re fact-checking a recap that says “the defense got a safety for 3 points.” What is a safety actually worth?
4After a touchdown, your notes say “kick good.” How many points is the successful extra-point kick worth?
5A team chooses to run a play from scrimmage after scoring a touchdown instead of kicking. If it succeeds, how many points is that conversion worth?
6In the regular season, an NFL game can end in a tie.

True / False

7You’re labeling an infographic and want the award that’s based on full-season regular-season performance. Which one is it?
8A stat sheet says “yards from scrimmage.” What does that number add together?
9You’re writing “formerly known as” notes for a franchise timeline. The Tennessee Titans were formerly the:
10In current regular-season overtime, Team A receives first and kicks a field goal on its opening drive. With time still on the clock, what happens next?
11Under current regular-season overtime rules, a touchdown on the opening possession ends the game immediately.

True / False

12A running back has 80 rushing yards and 50 receiving yards, plus 30 kick return yards. What are his yards from scrimmage?
13Which franchise moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles in the mid-2010s?
14You need an accolade that can be earned in a single game, not over a full season. Which one fits?
15You’re tagging content by season, not calendar date. The champion of the 2023 NFL season was decided in:
16Team total offense includes kickoff and punt return yards.

True / False

17A producer asks, “In what setting do both teams get a possession in overtime even if the first team scores a touchdown on its opening drive?” Which answer fits current NFL rules?
18You notice a box score where the quarterback has more passing yards than the team’s “net passing yards.” What most often explains the difference?
19If you need the NFL single-season rushing yards record holder for a stat callout, who is it?
20A researcher asks for the NFL record for most receiving yards in a single season. Which player holds it?

NFL Trivia Misses: Era Clues, Stat Buckets, and Team Lineage

1) Treating “NFL champion” as a Super Bowl answer

Many questions use NFL champion for pre-Super Bowl seasons. If the season is 1965 or earlier, start by thinking “NFL Championship Game,” not “Super Bowl winner.”

  • Fix: Anchor the Super Bowl era to the 1966 season (Super Bowl I was played after the 1966 season). If the season is earlier, answer from the pre-Super Bowl title history.

2) Season year vs. game date confusion

Super Bowls are played in the following calendar year, which causes wrong answers on MVP, rushing titles, and “that season” wording.

  • Fix: If the question asks about a season (awards, stat leaders, team record), answer with the season year, even if the Super Bowl was in January or February later.

3) Mixing stat categories that sound similar

Passing yards, total offense, yards from scrimmage, and all-purpose yards are different buckets. Many misses happen because the wording feels interchangeable.

  • Fix: Translate the phrase into a formula before you pick an answer. “From scrimmage” means rushing plus receiving. “All-purpose” adds return yards if returns are included.

4) Relocation and naming traps

Franchises keep their history through city changes. Trivia often asks for “the last time this franchise” rather than “this city.”

  • Fix: Identify the franchise first, then map city and nickname as a timeline. If the question says “franchise,” do not reset history at the move.

5) Applying modern rules to older seasons

Overtime format, extra point placement, playoff seeding rules, and even tie frequency vary by era.

  • Fix: Treat the year as the main clue. If the year is old, assume the rulebook is different until the question proves otherwise.

Printable NFL Trivia Quick Sheet: Scoring, Overtime Eras, and Stat Definitions

Printable note: Save this page as a PDF or print it as a one-page refresher before you start a new quiz run.

Scoring essentials (know these cold)

  • Touchdown (TD): 6 points
  • Extra point kick: 1 point
  • Two-point conversion: 2 points
  • Field goal (FG): 3 points
  • Safety: 2 points (awarded to the defense)

Era anchors that show up in trivia wording

  • Pre-1974 regular season: no regular-season overtime, ties were possible.
  • 1974 season onward (regular season): overtime introduced, historically “sudden death” framing is common in older questions.
  • 2010 season (playoffs): “modified sudden death” era begins, where an opening-drive field goal does not automatically end the game.
  • 2012 season (regular season): regular-season overtime adopts the same “field goal does not end it” concept.
  • 2017 season (regular season): overtime period shortened from 15 minutes to 10 minutes.
  • Postseason update (early 2020s): playoff overtime moved toward guaranteeing both teams a possession, even after an opening TD. Use the season in the question to pick the right rule set.

Read the prompt like a checklist

  • “NFL champion” vs “Super Bowl champion”: if the season is 1965 or earlier, treat it as an NFL Championship question unless it explicitly says Super Bowl.
  • “Season” vs “played on (date)”: awards and stat titles usually key to the season year.
  • “Franchise” vs “team in City X”: franchise implies full lineage across moves. City wording implies the specific city era.

Stat bucket formulas (convert words into math)

  • Yards from scrimmage = rushing yards + receiving yards
  • Total touchdowns can mean rushing + receiving + passing (depends on prompt). If it says “touchdown passes,” count only passing TDs.
  • All-purpose yards usually = yards from scrimmage + return yards (kick and punt), but only if returns are included in the prompt.

Fast record sanity checks

  • Single-game records: confirm the question says “single game” and not “playoff game” or “Super Bowl.” Those are separate trivia buckets.
  • Career vs season: “most in a season” is not “career leader,” even for the same player.

Worked NFL Trivia Reasoning: Season-Year, Category, and Franchise Checks

Example 1: Pre-Super Bowl “champion” wording

Prompt: “Who was the NFL champion in 1964?”

  1. Spot the era clue: 1964 is before the 1966 season, which is the first Super Bowl season. So this is not asking for a Super Bowl winner.
  2. Translate the label: “NFL champion” here means the winner of the NFL Championship Game.
  3. Avoid the common trap: Do not answer with “Super Bowl I winner,” because Super Bowl I was played after the 1966 season.
  4. Pick the right bucket: Answer with the 1964 NFL Championship winner, not an AFL champion and not a Super Bowl result.

Example 2: Stat category translation (scrimmage vs all-purpose)

Prompt: “Player A had 1,200 rushing yards and 600 receiving yards in a season. The question asks for yards from scrimmage. What number should you choose?”

  1. Identify the stat definition: Yards from scrimmage only counts rushing plus receiving.
  2. Do the math: 1,200 + 600 = 1,800.
  3. Rule out distractors: If an option adds return yards, that is an all-purpose number, not from scrimmage.

Example 3: Season year vs game date

Prompt: “The Super Bowl played in February 2016 crowned the champion of which season?”

  1. Find the concept: Super Bowls are typically played after the season ends.
  2. Convert date to season: February 2016 corresponds to the 2015 NFL season.
  3. Answer format: If choices include both 2015 and 2016, pick 2015 because the question asks for the season.

NFL Trivia FAQ: What Questions Usually Mean (Championships, Stats, and Rules)

What is the fastest way to tell “NFL Championship” questions from “Super Bowl” questions?

Start with the season year. If the season is 1965 or earlier, treat “NFL champion” as a pre-Super Bowl NFL Championship Game answer unless the prompt explicitly says “Super Bowl.” If the season is 1966 or later, then “champion” wording usually points to the Super Bowl era.

How do I avoid mixing up season awards with the Super Bowl date?

Read for “season” language. MVP, Offensive Player of the Year, and stat leader questions key to the season year. A Super Bowl played in January or February is still attached to the prior season.

What does “yards from scrimmage” mean in NFL trivia?

It is a strict formula: rushing yards + receiving yards. It does not include passing yards. It also does not include punt return or kick return yards unless the question switches to “all-purpose” wording.

When a question says “franchise,” do relocations count as the same team?

Yes. A franchise keeps its history through relocations and many rebrands. If the prompt says “franchise record” or “franchise last did X,” use the full timeline across cities. If the prompt says “in City X,” then you only use the seasons in that city.

Overtime rules change a lot. What should I look for in a trivia question?

Look for an era clue, then match it to the rule set the prompt implies. Regular-season overtime began in the 1974 season, modified sudden-death concepts start in the 2010 season playoffs and reach the regular season in 2012, and the regular-season overtime period shortens in the 2017 season. If the question gives a specific season, treat it as the key to which overtime format applies.

What should I practice if I keep missing “football basics” questions inside NFL trivia?

Focus on scoring math, down-and-distance language, and common terminology like “possession,” “opening drive,” and “touchback.” For broader rules practice that is not tied to one league era, use Try This General Football Trivia Practice as a quick cross-check on fundamentals.

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