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NFL Trivia Questions
Forty-two questions on the National Football League, from what a safety is worth to who won Super Bowl XX. Play the round, then read every answer below.
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NFL trivia has a problem most quiz writers walk straight into: half the obvious questions are about records, and records break. So this round leaves the leaderboards alone and sticks to the things that will read the same in twenty years. Which city fields the Packers. What a nickel package is. Who won Super Bowl III after guaranteeing it. How wide the field is and how high the crossbar sits. The result is a set that rewards people who actually watch football rather than people who checked a stats page this morning. Easy questions cover teams, scoring and the shape of the game; the medium band moves into settled Super Bowl results and rule detail; the hard band goes back to Decatur, to the Ice Bowl and to the trophy cabinet.
Rules and terms: nfl trivia questions
How many points is a touchdown worth?
Answer: Six EasyThe extra point or two-point try is scored separately afterward.
A successful field goal adds how many points?
Answer: Three EasyIt must pass between the uprights and above the crossbar.
How many players from each team are on the field during a play?
Answer: Eleven EasyHaving twelve on the field draws a penalty.
How many yards separate the two goal lines on an NFL field?
Answer: 100 EasyThe two end zones add ten yards each, making the full field 120 yards.
How many downs does an offense get to gain ten yards?
Answer: Four EasyGaining the ten yards resets the count to first down.
A safety, scored when the ball carrier is downed in his own end zone, is worth how many points?
Answer: Two MediumThe scoring team also receives the ball via a free kick.
Which offensive player begins each play by snapping the ball?
Answer: The center MediumHe hands or hikes the ball backward between his legs to start the down.
In the NFL, defensive pass interference is enforced at which point?
Answer: The spot of the foul MediumCollege football caps the penalty at fifteen yards instead.
What does an official signal by raising both arms straight overhead?
Answer: A touchdown or successful kick MediumWaving the arms across the body instead signals an incomplete pass.
A defense that brings a fifth defensive back onto the field is running what?
Answer: A nickel package HardA sixth defensive back makes it a dime.
How wide is a regulation NFL field?
Answer: 160 feet HardThat is fifty-three and a third yards from sideline to sideline.
How high above the ground is the crossbar on an NFL goalpost?
Answer: Ten feet HardThe uprights rise a further thirty-five feet above the crossbar.
What does the term 'gridiron' refer to?
Answer: The grid of lines marked across the playing field HardEarly fields were marked in squares, giving a grill-like appearance.
Teams and cities: nfl trivia questions
Which city do the Packers play in?
Answer: Green Bay EasyGreen Bay is by far the smallest city with an NFL franchise.
Which NFL team is based in Dallas?
Answer: Cowboys EasyThe Texans are Houston's team; the other two are not football clubs.
Which city do the Steelers represent?
Answer: Pittsburgh EasyPennsylvania also hosts the Philadelphia Eagles.
The New England team in the NFL is known as the what?
Answer: Patriots EasyNew England is the only franchise named for a region rather than a city or state.
The NFL is divided into which two conferences?
Answer: AFC and NFC EasyEach conference contains four divisions of four teams.
Chicago's NFL franchise is called the what?
Answer: Bears EasyThe other three names belong to Chicago's baseball, basketball and hockey teams.
The Miami Dolphins play in which state?
Answer: Florida EasyFlorida also hosts franchises in Jacksonville and Tampa Bay.
Cleveland's franchise relocated in 1996 and was renamed what?
Answer: Baltimore Ravens MediumCleveland kept the Browns name, colors and records for a new team in 1999.
Which franchise began life as the Decatur Staleys?
Answer: Chicago Bears HardGeorge Halas moved the team to Chicago in 1921 and renamed it a year later.
Which expansion team joined the NFL in 1976 alongside the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?
Answer: Seattle Seahawks HardThe other three joined in the 1990s or later.
Super Bowl history: nfl trivia questions
Super Bowl editions are numbered using which system?
Answer: Roman numerals EasyThe league briefly used Arabic figures for Super Bowl 50 before returning to Roman numerals.
Which team won the first Super Bowl, played in January 1967?
Answer: Green Bay Packers MediumThey beat the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 in Los Angeles.
Which team became the first to win four Super Bowls?
Answer: Pittsburgh Steelers MediumThey completed the set at the end of the 1979 season.
Which team won Super Bowl XX, following the 1985 season?
Answer: Chicago Bears HardTheir defense allowed only ten points in the game.
Which team won Super Bowl III after its quarterback publicly guaranteed victory?
Answer: New York Jets HardThe win gave the AFL enormous credibility ahead of the merger.
Which city hosted the first Super Bowl?
Answer: Los Angeles HardIt was played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which was not sold out.
In Super Bowl LI, New England overcame a deficit of how many points?
Answer: Twenty-five HardThey trailed Atlanta twenty-eight to three before forcing the first Super Bowl overtime.
Famous settled moments: nfl trivia questions
Which team beat the undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII?
Answer: New York Giants MediumThe upset ended New England's bid for a nineteen-and-zero season.
What made the 1972 Miami Dolphins season unique?
Answer: They finished it without a single loss or tie MediumThey went seventeen and zero including the Super Bowl.
The NFL completed a merger with which rival league in 1970?
Answer: The American Football League MediumThe merger created the AFC and NFC as we know them.
The phrase 'Hail Mary pass' entered football language after a 1975 playoff throw by which quarterback?
Answer: Roger Staubach MediumHe said afterward that he closed his eyes and said a prayer.
The 1967 NFL Championship known as the Ice Bowl was contested by which two teams?
Answer: Packers and Cowboys HardKickoff temperature in Green Bay was around minus thirteen Fahrenheit.
Which team won the 1958 NFL Championship, often called the greatest game ever played?
Answer: Baltimore Colts HardIt was the first NFL title game decided in sudden-death overtime.
Stadiums and trophies: nfl trivia questions
The Super Bowl trophy is named after which coach?
Answer: Vince Lombardi EasyLombardi coached Green Bay to the first two Super Bowl titles.
Which stadium is the home field of the Green Bay Packers?
Answer: Lambeau Field MediumIt is named for Curly Lambeau, who founded the franchise.
Arrowhead Stadium is home to which franchise?
Answer: Kansas City Chiefs MediumAll four were once AFC West rivals, but only Kansas City plays there.
Which team's helmet carries its logo on only one side?
Answer: Pittsburgh Steelers MediumThe one-sided design began as a 1962 experiment that simply stuck.
The Vince Lombardi Trophy is handcrafted by which company?
Answer: Tiffany & Co. HardIt is sterling silver and shaped like a regulation football on a stand.
The trophy awarded to the AFC champion is named after which man?
Answer: Lamar Hunt HardHunt founded the AFL and also coined the name Super Bowl.
Answer key
- Green Bay
- Six
- Three
- Vince Lombardi
- Cowboys
- Eleven
- 100
- Pittsburgh
- Patriots
- Roman numerals
- AFC and NFC
- Four
- Bears
- Florida
- Green Bay Packers
- New York Giants
- They finished it without a single loss or tie
- Two
- The American Football League
- Lambeau Field
- Kansas City Chiefs
- The center
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Roger Staubach
- The spot of the foul
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Baltimore Ravens
- A touchdown or successful kick
- Chicago Bears
- Tiffany & Co.
- Packers and Cowboys
- New York Jets
- Baltimore Colts
- A nickel package
- Chicago Bears
- Lamar Hunt
- 160 feet
- Ten feet
- Los Angeles
- Twenty-five
- Seattle Seahawks
- The grid of lines marked across the playing field
How to play
- Pick a mode: multiple choice, true or false, a 60-second sprint, or the daily quiz.
- Answer with a tap, or press 1 to 4 on a keyboard. The right answer appears straight away with a line explaining it.
- Finish the round to see your score, copy the result grid, and step up a difficulty.
- Hosting a night? The full nfl list and a separate answer key are printed below, and the print layout drops the game and keeps the paper.
Tiebreaker questions
Closest guess wins. Read one out when two tables finish level.
In what year was the first Super Bowl played?
Answer: 1967 It was staged in Los Angeles in January 1967 and won by Green Bay.
In what year was the NFL and AFL merger completed?
Answer: 1970 The agreement was announced in 1966 and took full effect for the 1970 season.
How many feet wide is a regulation NFL field?
Answer: 160 feet That is 53 and a third yards, unchanged for generations.
Common mistakes in nfl trivia
- The Super Bowl has always been called the Super Bowl.
The first two games were officially the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. The Super Bowl name was adopted formally a few years later and applied backwards.
- A touchdown is worth seven points.
A touchdown is worth six. The seventh point comes from a separate extra-point kick, which can be missed, and a two-point conversion is an alternative.
- The forward pass was part of football from the start.
Early American football banned throwing the ball forward. The legal forward pass arrived in 1906 as part of reforms to make the game less dangerous.
- The Green Bay Packers are named after a place called Packer.
The name comes from the Indian Packing Company, which funded the team's first equipment in 1919.
- Overtime rules are the same in the regular season and the playoffs.
They differ. A playoff game must produce a winner and cannot end in a tie, while a regular season overtime can.
Running this round at a quiz night
Football rounds split a room fast, so mix teams and cities with rules to keep casual players in. Open with two team or city questions, drop in a rule, then a Super Bowl result, and finish with a stadium or trophy. Keep the pace brisk and read team names in full, since Giants, Jets and Cardinals all have history in more than one city. The usual dispute is naming: say the franchise name on the sheet and add the city, and when a question covers a relocated team, state which era you mean. Avoid anything a future season could change. For the tiebreaker use the year of the first Super Bowl, a fixed date that rewards a reasoned guess.
Frequently asked questions
Why are there no questions about who holds NFL records?
Because record questions go stale. A passing or receiving mark can fall in a single Sunday, and a quiz that gives the old answer is simply wrong. Everything here is a completed result, a rule or a name that will not change.
Is a two-point conversion the same as an extra point?
No. After a touchdown a team may kick for one point or run a play from close range for two. The two-point try is riskier and is usually saved for when the scoreboard demands it.
Why is Green Bay so much smaller than every other NFL city?
The Packers predate the modern league's move to big markets and are community owned, so there is no owner able to relocate them. They are the last survivor of the small-town franchises that filled the league in the 1920s.
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