This NFL puzzle ran on Oct 29, 2026. The task was to connect Tetairoa McMillan to Luke Musgrave with a chain of real players. The objective: “Your chain must include a player with a 4,000-yard passing season.” Par was 3 links.
Tetairoa McMillan (WR) played in the NFL from 2025 to 2026. A one-team career, spent with the Carolina Panthers (2025 to 2026). College: Arizona. Honors in the dataset: Offensive Rookie of the Year. As the Start of the chain, a household name like this gives you a lot of teammates to branch from, which makes it a friendly place to begin.
Luke Musgrave (TE) played in the NFL from 2023 to 2025. A one-team career, spent with the Green Bay Packers (2023 to 2025). College: Oregon State. As the Finish of the chain, a household name like this gives you a lot of teammates to branch from, which makes it a friendly place to begin.
Tetairoa McMillan and Luke Musgrave do not share a team or a college, so there is no direct link. You need at least one connector in between, and the objective decides which ones are allowed to count.
This was a stat milestone objective. At least one player in the chain has to have cleared the career or season mark named in the objective. Of the 17,973 players in the pool, 69 satisfy it. The best known are Peyton Manning (QB, 1998 to 2015), Drew Brees (QB, 2001 to 2020), Brett Favre (QB, 1991 to 2010), Kurt Warner (QB, 1998 to 2009), Matthew Stafford (QB, 2009 to 2026), and John Elway (QB, 1990 to 1998).
7 of those players share a team or college with Tetairoa McMillan, and 6 share one with Luke Musgrave. The Finish is the tighter side, so it often pays to work backward from Luke Musgrave.
One shortest chain found by searching the full player pool, preferring the best known names at every step:
Many other chains work. Scoring rewards lower-profile connectors, so the best-known route is rarely the highest scoring one.
Want more? Browse the full NFL puzzle archive, read the strategy guides, or see how scoring works on How to Play.