NFL Connections

How to play NFL Connections

The grid holds sixteen tiles that belong to four secret groups — teams, positions, legends, rules, and the like. Tap four tiles you think share a connection, then hit Submit. Get all four right and the group locks into a coloured band with its category revealed. Get it wrong and you lose one of your four guesses; when three of your four picks belong to the same group, the game tells you that you were one away.

The trick is the overlaps. A tile can look like it fits two groups — that is the trap. Solve the group you are most certain of first, because every locked group shrinks the board and makes the rest easier. Shuffle rearranges the tiles if a fresh layout helps you see it, and Deselect clears your current pick.

What the colours mean

Each group has a difficulty colour, easiest to hardest: yellow, green, blue, then purple. Yellow is usually the most obvious connection and purple the sneakiest, so if you are stuck, the yellow group is the place to start. Your shareable result is the grid of colours in the order you guessed them — no answers spoiled.

NFL Connections and the daily puzzle habit

If you play the New York Times Connections or its Sports Edition, the format will feel familiar — sixteen tiles, four groups, four mistakes. This one is all football. It is an independent, unofficial game and is not affiliated with the NFL or the NYT; it uses factual football terms and names only, with no team logos or marks. Want more? We keep a daily Sports Connections hints-and-answers hub, and if you would rather guess a single mystery player, try Guess the NFL Player or NFL Wordle.