This NFL puzzle ran on Oct 31, 2026. The task was to connect Zachariah Branch to Aidan Hutchinson with a chain of real players. The objective: “Your chain must include a player with a 10-interception season.” Par was 5 links. A search of the full player pool found a shortest chain of 3 links.
Zachariah Branch (WR) played in the NFL from 2026. A one-team career, spent with the Atlanta Falcons (2026). College: Georgia and USC. 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.
Aidan Hutchinson (DL) played in the NFL from 2022 to 2026. A one-team career, spent with the Detroit Lions (2022 to 2026). College: Michigan. 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.
Zachariah Branch and Aidan Hutchinson 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, 13 satisfy it. The best known are Champ Bailey (DB, 1999 to 2013), Ty Law (DB, 1995 to 2009), Ronde Barber (DB, 1997 to 2012), Ronnie Lott (DB, 1990 to 1995), Antonio Cromartie (CB, 2006 to 2016), and Xavien Howard (DB, 2016 to 2025).
5 of those players share a team or college with Zachariah Branch, and 2 share one with Aidan Hutchinson. The Finish is the tighter side, so it often pays to work backward from Aidan Hutchinson.
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.