How to read
a Drive Wheel.

Around

A literal game clock

Kickoff is at twelve and the game runs clockwise, a full turn for sixty minutes, so halftime lands at six o'clock. A wide wedge means a long drive; a narrow one is usually three and out.

Outward

Drives move toward the outer edge

The center marks the offense's own goal line; the heavier ring halfway out is the fifty. Each dot is a snap, and the line traces the drive outward, toward the opponent's goal line.

At the edge

Drive outcomes ring the circle

Each drive ends in a band at the edge: thick and colored if it scored, thin and gray if it didn't, labeled with the result and the new score. The ring just inside shows who was ahead at the time.

The marks

What each shape means

• A first down. Solid dots moved the chains.
• Any other snap. Hollow dots did not.
• A penalty. The triangle points at the team the flag was on — including a kickoff put out of bounds, which hands the ball over near midfield.
• A turnover, at the spot it happened.
• A return, dashed, in the returning team's color — kickoffs, punts and turnovers alike.
• A field goal attempt, at the spot of the kick.
• A scoring drive, in the scoring team's color.
• A drive that didn't score.
• The try after a touchdown — XP or 2PT, grey if it missed.
• A kickoff won by the kicking team — a fumbled return or a recovered onside kick.

Hovering a wedge gives you the drive; clicking any mark gives you the play it came from. On a touch screen, tap instead.

Play-by-play comes from nflverse, the open data project behind nflfastR.