Playbooks
Scheme Playbook
Air Raid Offense
SchemeOffenseOverview
The Air Raid Offense playbook is a spread passing scheme built almost entirely out of the gun. Of its 340 plays, 225 (66%) live in Shotgun across 20 sets, and another 103 (30%) come from Pistol across 9 sets. That leaves only 9 Goal Line Offense plays in a single set and 3 Hail Mary plays across 2 sets. There is no traditional under center base package here. Every normal down is called from a spread or offset gun alignment, so the quarterback is reading coverage from depth on every snap outside the red zone.
The concept list tells you how it wants to attack: Drag, Crosser, Slant, Hitch, Spot, Flat and Post, plus dedicated Cover 3 Beater calls, Play Action, Block and Release, and Motion tags. This is a quick game and horizontal stretch book. You build a game plan around high percentage throws that punish zone spacing and man leverage, then use Pistol play action and backfield releases to keep linebackers honest. Personnel range from 10 (four wide) and 01 (no back, four wide) all the way to 23 in the goal line package, but the core of the book is 11, 10 and 20 spread looks.
The Air Raid Offense sits in the lower portion by size among the game's 13 offensive scheme playbooks (larger than only about a quarter of them). It trades breadth for focus. You give up under center power and I-Form play action, and in return you get a dense Shotgun menu where the same passing concepts repeat across many sets and personnel groups. That lets you disguise one money concept behind multiple looks and keep your opponent guessing on alignment rather than on the route.
Scheme Fit
The Air Raid Offense wants a quick release, accurate short and medium throwing quarterback with strong awareness, three or four receivers with good route running and release, and a receiving back who can win in the flat off Block and Release tags; mobility is a bonus in Pistol but not required. It rewards a patient, rhythm based play caller who reads coverage pre-snap, lives on hot routes and quick game, and is comfortable matriculating the ball down the field rather than hunting for deep shots or pounding a power run game.
Example Plays from this Playbook
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Strengths
- Twenty Shotgun sets carrying 225 plays means your core quick game concepts (Drag, Slant, Hitch, Spot) show up from many different alignments, so you can run the same read out of 10, 11 and 01 personnel and force the defense to rediscover your tendency every drive
- The 01 and 10 personnel looks empty or thin out the backfield and put four receivers on the field, which lets you isolate a slot on a linebacker and punish user defenders who try to cheat the middle with crossers and drags
- Dedicated Cover 3 Beater calls combined with Post, Spot and Flat concepts give you built in answers to the most common base zone in online play without needing to hot route every receiver pre-snap
- Pistol at 30% of the book (103 plays, 9 sets) gives a legitimate downhill run and play action threat from a gun depth, so you keep the spread passing tree while forcing the defense to respect a back aligned behind the quarterback
- Motion and Block and Release tags let you check protection and personnel matchups pre-snap, motioning a receiver to reveal man or zone and releasing a back or tight end into the flat once the blitz picks are handled
Weaknesses
- With 96% of the book in Shotgun and Pistol and no base under center formation, opponents can sit in nickel and dime with light boxes on early downs, knowing your run game will never come from a heavy I-Form or Singleback look
- The Goal Line Offense package is just 9 plays in one set, so short yardage and inside the five situations get predictable fast and a defense can load the box against a very small menu of heavy personnel calls
- Only 3 Hail Mary plays across 2 sets means your end of half and end of game desperation options are thin, and you will lean on Shotgun verticals when the clock is short
- The concept list is dominated by short and intermediate throws (Drag, Crosser, Flat, Hitch, Slant, Spot), so a defense playing tight man with a user robber in the hole can clog the underneath windows and dare you to push the ball deep
- Heavy reliance on quick game means drives require many successful snaps in a row, and one pressure package that beats your hot routes or one dropped pass can stall a possession without a big play safety valve
Usage Tips
Build your first and ten audibles around Shotgun 11 personnel sets pairing a Drag or Crosser concept with a Pistol run or play action call, so you can check between run and quick pass based on box count before the snap
On second and medium or third and short, reach for Shotgun 10 personnel four wide looks and call Slant, Hitch or Spot concepts, then hot route the back to block or release to the flat depending on whether the defense shows blitz
When you diagnose Cover 3 pre-snap (single high safety, corners bailing), audible straight to a Cover 3 Beater call or a Post and Flat combo from Shotgun and throw the seam or flat void rather than forcing the underneath hook zones
Use Pistol on early downs when the defense spreads out in dime against your Shotgun tendency, and pair Pistol Play Action with Block and Release so a back or tight end leaks out behind linebackers who bite on the fake
Save the Goal Line Offense set for true short yardage and inside the five only, mix calls like FB Dive with its play action and Block and Release options, and keep the 3 Hail Mary plays (including Goal Post) strictly for final snap situations
Formations in this playbook
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