Playbooks

Team Playbook

Cardinals Offense

TeamOffense

View the Arizona Cardinals Team Hub

7Formations

42Sets

603Plays

Overview

Cardinals Offense and NFL Live Cardinals Offense are the same playbook for practical purposes. The sibling cut shares all 603 of this book's 603 plays and differs by 0 sets, so your audibles, practice reps and install work carry over between the two with no changes. Pick whichever one your mode offers and expect identical content.

The Cardinals Offense is a Shotgun first book. Shotgun accounts for 365 plays (61%) across 23 sets. Singleback adds 104 plays (17%) across 8 sets and Pistol adds 96 plays (16%) across 6 sets. Those three families make up about 94% of the book. The under center power package is small: Goal Line Offense has 14 plays, Strong I has 12, I Form has 9, and Hail Mary has 3 plays across 2 sets. At 603 plays the book is larger than 63% of the game's 64 offensive team playbooks, and most of that size comes from the depth of its 23 Shotgun sets.

The game plan is a spread passing attack built on quick game and horizontal stretch. The concept list covers Drag, Crosser, Flat, Slant, Hitch, Spot, Post and a dedicated Cover 3 Beater. Pistol and Singleback supply the run game and the Play Action shots, with plays like 26 Duo, 0 1 Trap and Counter Weak. Seven personnel groups, from 10 personnel four wide to 23 personnel heavy, let you change the look without leaving the book. Expect to win by spreading the defense out, attacking the underneath zones and running when the box gets light.

Scheme Fit

The Cardinals Offense rewards an accurate, quick release quarterback who can process Drag, Slant and Spot reads out of Shotgun, and a mobile passer adds extra value on Pistol Play Action. It works best with shifty slot receivers, a back who can catch in the flat and a tight end who can block and release. It suits players who like to spread defenses out and win with timing, and it is a poor fit if you want to live in heavy under center formations.

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Strengths

Shotgun depth is elite, with 365 plays across 23 sets, so you can repeat the same Drag, Crosser, Slant and Flat concepts from many alignments and keep defenders from keying one formation.
Pistol gives you 96 plays across 6 sets, which lets you run 26 Duo, 0 1 Trap or Counter Weak and then Play Action from the same backfield look without going under center.
The concept mix includes a named Cover 3 Beater along with Spot, Hitch and Post, so you have built in answers to the most common zone shells instead of relying on hot routes to fake them.
Seven personnel groups, from 10 to 23, let you use formation subs to create mismatches: flex a tight end out in 11 or 12, or go four wide in 10 to force nickel and dime onto the field.
Motion and Block and Release concepts across 104 Singleback plays let you ID man or zone before the snap and then leak a tight end or back into the flat after chipping a nano blitz.

Weaknesses

Power football is thin. Strong I (12 plays), I Form (9) and Goal Line Offense (14) together make up less than 6% of the book, so your downhill fullback runs like FB Dive are easy to scout once you line up heavy.
The book leans hard on Shotgun, at 61% of its plays, so opponents can keep a light box and spend their user on underneath zones, betting that you will not punish them from under center.
Heavy personnel groups exist, but most of their snaps come in a handful of sets. A defense that sees 22 or 23 personnel can load the box and sit on run with little fear of a deep variety of pass options.
Hail Mary has only 3 plays, so desperation situations give you very few looks. Players who fall behind late are stuck with predictable end of half calls like Goal Post.
The Shotgun sets carry most of the passing concepts, so a defense that disguises Cover 2 and Cover 4 well can take away your quick game and push you into long third downs.

Usage Tips

Build your base audible package around two or three Shotgun sets. Carry a Slant or Drag concept for first and second down, the Cover 3 Beater for third and medium, and a Curls call for third and long against soft zone.

On first and 10, go to Pistol and alternate 26 Duo with its matching Play Action look. The shared backfield alignment makes linebackers bite and opens up the Post and Crosser windows behind them.

Use Singleback on second and short or third and short. Motion a receiver across to read man or zone, then take either a quick Hitch or Flat throw, or a Counter Weak run if the defense widens.

Save Strong I, I Form and Goal Line Offense for inside the 5 and for fourth and inches. Call FB Dive or 0 1 Trap there, but work in a Block and Release look so a stacked box cannot just sit on the run.

When you are protecting a lead, sub into 12 or 21 personnel through the Singleback and Pistol sets to run the clock, and keep one Shotgun Spot concept ready as your conversion call on third down.