Playbooks
Franchise Playsheet
Deep Freeze
PlaysheetDefenseOverview
Deep Freeze is a 30 play situational playsheet built on one idea: never put more than five defenders in the box unless you are choosing to. Every formation in the book is a sub package. 3-3-5, Dime, Dollar, Nickel and Quarter each carry exactly 6 plays, a perfectly flat 20 percent split with no formation given priority and no base defense anywhere on the sheet. That makes it one of the most evenly distributed defensive franchise books in the game, and it means your call sheet is organized by personnel rather than by front.
The personnel list tells the real story: Nickel 5-1-5, Dime 4-1-6, Dime 3-2-6, Nickel 2-4-5 and Big Quarter 1-3-7. You are running five, six or seven defensive backs on every snap, with fronts ranging from a five man Nickel wall down to a single lineman in Big Quarter. The concept spread backs that up with a deep zone core (Cover 3, Cover 3 Buzz, Cover 4, Cover 2, Tampa 2, generic Zone Coverage) layered under pressure looks (Blitz, Edge Blitz, LB Blitz, Cover 0, Zero Blitz) and straight Man Coverage. Sample calls like Cover 2 Drop, Cover 2 Man and 3 Double Buzz show where the book lives: two deep and three deep shells with buzz defenders sinking into the hook windows.
Choosing Deepfreeze over a conventional book means trading run fits for coverage flexibility and the ability to disguise. Because each of the five formations holds only one set, you can put all five in your audible package and flip between a 3-3-5 odd front, a 2-4-5 Nickel with four standup rushers, a 3-2-6 Dime and a 1-3-7 Big Quarter without ever leaving the play call screen. That is a pass defense playsheet for a user who wants to control a coverage defender, mug and back out of pressure looks, and dictate throws rather than win at the line of scrimmage.
Scheme Fit
Deep Freeze wants a secondary five to seven deep in real talent: two press capable corners with high man coverage and press, a nickel and dime back with zone coverage and acceleration, and at least two safeties who can play deep middle and buzz the hook with high play recognition and zone coverage. Up front you need hybrid edge players with speed rush and finesse moves who can stand up in the Nickel 2-4-5 and Dime 3-2-6 groups, plus one or two linebackers with pursuit and tackle who can survive being the only second level defender in Dime 4-1-6 and Big Quarter 1-3-7. Pick this playsheet if you are a user controlled coverage player who wants to disguise shells and dictate throws, and avoid it if your roster is built around big run stuffing defensive tackles or if you face heavy personnel run schemes every week.
Playsheet bonuses
- IUnlocks the playsheet
- II+5Finesse Moves, Power Movesall EDGE & DT
- III+5Man Coverage, Zone Coverageall CB
- IV+7Zone Coverage, Play RecFS & SS
Every play in this playsheet (30 plays)
3-3-5 Penny 3 High6 plays
Dollar Sugar 3-26 plays
Nickel 2-46 plays
Quarter 1-3-76 plays
Find plays by concept, not by formation
Search every playbook by tag and personnel grouping, not just Deep Freeze.
Strengths
- Perfectly flat 20 percent split across 3-3-5, Dime, Dollar, Nickel and Quarter means all five formations fit into one audible package, so you can rotate personnel snap to snap without tipping a call the way a book weighted 40 percent to one front does.
- Big Quarter 1-3-7 is a genuinely rare package on a franchise playsheet, and with seven defensive backs plus Tampa 2 and Cover 4 on the sheet you have a true four minute and third and 20 answer that most defensive books simply cannot line up.
- The Nickel 2-4-5 group gives you four standup rushers over a two man front, which is the cleanest way to run the Edge Blitz and LB Blitz calls with disguised pressure, dropping one rusher and blitzing another after the offense sets protection.
- Cover 3 Buzz and 3 Double Buzz out of the 3-3-5 let you sink buzz defenders into the seam and hook windows against play action rollouts while still keeping three underneath zones, and you can hot route the free hook defender wider to close the curl.
- Dime 4-1-6 and Dime 3-2-6 both live in the same formation block, so you can flip from a four man rush Cover 2 Drop shell to a two linebacker Zero Blitz look without changing the formation the offense reads pre snap.
Weaknesses
- There is no base 4-3, 3-4, 46 or Goal Line anywhere in the book. With Nickel 5-1-5 as the heaviest personnel group on the sheet, a competent opponent will run heavy sets, inside zone and power at you all game and you have no answer beyond manual shifts and formation subs.
- Only 6 plays per formation and one set per formation means shallow depth everywhere. Once an opponent identifies your Dollar or Quarter tendencies, there are no alternate sets inside that formation to change the picture, only the same six calls with different art.
- The concept list is heavily two deep and three deep. With Cover 2, Cover 2 Man, Cover 2 Drop, Cover 3, Cover 3 Buzz, 3 Double Buzz and Tampa 2 all on the sheet, opponents who attack the middle hook and the flat behind the buzz defender will find the same soft spots from multiple formations.
- Big Quarter 1-3-7 with a single lineman generates almost no natural pressure, so the Cover 0 and Zero Blitz calls become mandatory rather than optional when you need a sack, and those are the calls a good passer beats with a check down to a receiving back.
- Five and six back personnel on every snap puts your third and fourth cornerbacks and third safety on the field constantly, which punishes thin secondary depth far more than a book that spends most of its snaps in base.
Usage Tips
Build your audible package around Nickel and Dime first since they cover standard second and long and third and medium, then add 3-3-5 as your disguise formation for third and 5 to 8 where you want an odd front look with three linebackers in the box.
Save Big Quarter 1-3-7 for third and 15 plus and two minute drill only. With one lineman you are conceding the rush, so pair it with Cover 4 or Tampa 2 and user the deep middle rather than blitzing.
Run Cover 2 Man and Cover 2 Drop out of Dollar on second and 6 to 10 as your mirror pair. They show the same two deep shell, so alternate them and let the offense guess whether the underneath defenders are trailing or sinking.
Use the Nickel 2-4-5 group for your Edge Blitz and LB Blitz calls on third down, shift the front toward the tight end, then back one rusher out and user blitz from the opposite side to create a nano style overload without exposing a coverage hole.
Pull 3 Double Buzz from 3-3-5 or Quarter against RPO and play action heavy opponents. The buzz defenders take away the intermediate seam, and you can hot route the flat defender to the hook if the offense keeps hitting the middle of the field.
Formations in this playbook
Upgrade to Playbooks Rookie
- Filter every play by tag and concept
- Personnel groupings
- Premium play analysis