User Guide

Everything you need to know to play the NFL Records Pool.

1

Getting an invite

The commissioner sends each player a personal registration link. This link is specific to your league, though feel free to share with anyone else you think may be interested in joining — the more the merrier. Click the link, enter the registration information, and a sign-in link will be sent to your inbox. Click that link and you're registered and signed in automatically. No password needed, ever.

Think of the sign-in link like a one-time key. Click it and the door opens — you don't need to remember anything except to go to nflrecordspool.com.

2

Submitting your record predictions

Deadline: August 26

Once you're signed in, you'll land on the record prediction page. Your job is to predict the end-of-season win/loss record for all 32 NFL teams. Every team plays 17 games, so the entire league plays a combined 272 wins worth of games — your predictions must add up to exactly 272 wins total.

The page keeps a running total as you go and won't let you submit until the number is right. If you're stuck, try nudging a few teams up or down by half a win (ties count as 0.5 wins, e.g. an 8-8-1 season is entered as 8.5).

At the bottom of the form you'll also find the tiebreaker field — see Section 2.5 below for details on that.

You can come back and edit your predictions as many times as you'd like before the August 26 deadline. After that, they're locked in.

Not ready to submit yet? No problem — you can leave the page at any time and come back before August 26 to finalize. There's no pressure to complete it in one sitting.

Not sure how to get back to the submission page? Go to the homepage, click Get a Sign-In Link, enter your email, and click the link you receive. You'll be taken right back in.

2A

Tiebreaker — Total regular season points

Deadline: August 26

At the bottom of your record prediction form, you'll see a tiebreaker field. Your job is to guess the total number of points scored across all 272 NFL regular season games — home and away combined, for every single game played.

Tiebreaker rule: if two or more players finish with the same total score at the end of the season, the player who guessed closest to the actual total points scored is the winner — higher or lower.

The tiebreaker is only used if there's a tie on total score. For reference, the NFL regular season typically produces somewhere between 10,000 and 14,000 total points, though the number varies each year.

Your tiebreaker guess is submitted alongside your record predictions and is editable up to the August 26 deadline. Once locked, it can't be changed.

The Stats page tracks the running points total throughout the season, so you can see how the number is trending relative to your guess.

3

Over/Under picks

Deadline: August 26 – September 9

Once the August 26 deadline passes, all record predictions are locked and the group's collective averages are revealed. You can now see what the entire league predicted for every team.

Your next task is to make four Over/Under picks. Choose 2 teams you think will outperform the group average and 2 teams you think will underperform it. That's it — just four picks.

For example: if the group projects the Chiefs to win 11 games on average and you think they'll do better, pick them as an Over. If they actually finish 13-4, you score points for every win above the group average. If you picked them to Under instead and they still went 13-4, you lose points.

The Over/Under picks page is available from the homepage once predictions are locked. The deadline for O/U picks is September 9 — right at the NFL season opener kickoff.

4

The season

Once picks are locked, the pool runs itself. Check the Standings page throughout the season to see how you're stacking up. Scores update as teams play games and their records take shape.

Record Predictions (per team)

Exact record4 pts
1 game off2 pts
2 games off1 pt
3 games off0 pts
4+ games off−1 pt / game

Over/Under Picks (per pick)

Correct pick+2× margin
Wrong pick−1× margin

Both categories are normalized so the top performer earns 50 pts each, for a max of 100 pts total.

Tiebreaker: if two or more players finish with the same total score, the player whose pre-season guess for total regular season points scored is closest to the actual total wins. Higher or lower — pure proximity.

4A

In-Season Hub

Once the NFL season starts, the In-Season Hub unlocks three ways to keep your picks competitive as the season unfolds. All three mechanics go live after Week 1 results are official (est. Monday night, Week 1). Find the hub in the nav bar or at nflrecordspool.com/in-season.

🔄

O/U Revival Pick

1× per season

Swap one of your four O/U picks for any of the 28 teams you didn't originally pick. You get one swap for the entire season — use it when you realize one of your picks is going sideways. The swap uses a timing multiplier, so earlier is worth more.

🔧

Record Tweaks

3–7 per season

Adjust any team's win prediction by ±1 win. You start with 3 base tweaks and can earn up to 4 more through the Off-Pace Survivor game below (7 maximum). Each tweak is weighted by how many games remain — an early-season tweak is worth more than a Week 16 tweak. Each team locks at its individual game kickoff.

🎯

Off-Pace Survivor

1 pick/week

Each week you'll see a board of the 10 teams most off-pace relative to the pool's season-long predictions. Pick one team to WIN or LOSE that week. Correct picks earn 1 point (0.5× if you re-pick the same team+direction). Every 4 points earns 1 bonus Record Tweak. You can pick any team up to 2 times per direction and 4 times total.

Timing multiplier: all in-season changes are weighted by games remaining ÷ 17. A tweak made in Week 3 (14 games left) is worth ~82% of a full tweak; the same change in Week 14 (3 games left) is worth ~18%. Make your moves early.

5

Signing back in

There are no passwords. Any time you need to get back into the site, go to the homepage and click Get a Sign-In Link. Enter your email address and a fresh link will be sent to you. Click it and you're in.

Sign-in links expire after a short window, so if yours has gone stale just request a new one from the homepage.

Common questions

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