About the Two Minute Drill Game

The two minute drill game is a free, fan made football strategy game built on real NFL data. It asks one question: with the game on the line, can you call a better drive than the real coach did?

Real situations

Every drive starts from a real moment in a real game from the 2023 to 2026 NFL seasons, playoffs included: a close game in its final minutes with one team getting the ball. The score, the clock, the down and distance, the spot of the ball, both teams' timeouts and the head coach all come from that game. So does the ending, which you see after your own drive is over.

Real players and ratings

Lineups are reconstructed from each team's game-level snap counts, using the most-used players at each position. Ratings combine individual season performance and team statistics, with estimates where player data is limited. These ratings influence matchups such as the quarterback against the secondary and the offensive line against the pass rush.

Simulating plays with real NFL data

Run and pass outcomes are sampled from real NFL plays, grouped by play type, passing depth and direction, defensive look and field zone. Passing routes are approximated by depth and direction. When the sample pool is small, it expands to nearby field zones or other defensive looks to include more examples. The sampled result is then adjusted for the current game situation. Kicks and other special situations use probabilities estimated from real NFL data.

Player ratings tilt which of those real plays come up. A great quarterback against a weak secondary draws more of the good outcomes; a struggling line against a strong pass rush draws more of the sacks.

Trick plays get special care. Teams only call them when they expect them to work, so their real averages look better than they would if you called them any time you liked. The game corrects for that so a flea flicker is not a free touchdown.

How every call is graded

After each decision, the game compares available calls by simulating possible finishes with the same clock rules and AI coach. A shorter first pass screens large sets of options. The leading choices and your selected call then receive 2,000 simulations each. Options in the same pass use the same random draws to make the comparison fair.

Your call is then graded against the best option: best, close, costly or big miss. That is why a good call can earn a top grade even when the play fails. The same simulation drives the AI coach, which is how the game knows how often the AI wins each drive.

Data sources

• nflverse play by play data, rosters and snap counts. nflverse is an open source project that publishes NFL data for analysts and fans.
• FTN charting data via nflverse, used for defensive box counts, blitzes, play action, rollouts and other charted details, under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

The 2026 season is in progress, so its games are added as the data is updated.

Not affiliated with the NFL

This is a fan made game. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the NFL, its teams or its players. NFL and team names are trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify the real games the situations come from. No league or team logos are used.

Play the two minute drill game

New to the game? Start with how to play.