Playbooks

Franchise Playsheet

The Manifesto

PlaysheetDefense

2Formations

3Sets

24Plays

Overview

The Manifesto is a compact, sub-package-only defensive playsheet. It carries 24 plays across just two formations and three sets, which puts it on the smaller end of the game's 30 defensive franchise playsheets. There is no base front anywhere on the sheet. Every call comes out of Dime or Nickel, so this is a pass-first defense built to match spread personnel with extra defensive backs and dial up pressure from those light boxes.

Dime carries the load with 15 plays (63%) split across two sets, the Dime 4-1-6 and Big Dime 4-1-6 personnel groups. Nickel supplies the other 9 plays (38%) from a single set. That set is the unusual Nickel 2-4-5 look, with two down linemen and four linebackers. The concept list leans toward man and pressure: Cover 1, Cover 0, Zero Blitz, Edge Blitz, LB Blitz, Simulated Pressure and Double Wr1 bracket calls. Cover 3, Cover 9 and general zone coverage give you the changeups. Sample calls such as 1 Double TE and 1 Double Slot show the sheet is organized around the offensive looks you will face.

Pick The Manifesto if you want a tight, easy-to-memorize menu that lives in six-DB and five-DB shells. It lets you shadow an opponent's top receiver, bring zero pressure, and disguise simulated pressure from the same personnel. The payoff is speed on the field and quick pre-snap decisions. The cost is limited flexibility against heavy formations.

Scheme Fit

The Manifesto wants a deep secondary: at least five or six starting-caliber defensive backs with strong man coverage and press ratings, plus a slot corner who can survive on an island in Cover 0. It also needs rangy, fast linebackers with good pass rush and zone ratings to make the Nickel 2-4-5 blitzes and simulated pressure work, and edge rushers who can win without help. Choose it if your conference is full of spread passing teams and you prefer an aggressive, man-heavy call sheet with a short menu over a deep playbook built to stop power football.

Playsheet bonuses

IUnlocks the playsheet
II+5Man Coverage, Play Recall LB
III+5Man Coverage, Play RecFS & SS
IV+7Man Coverage, Pressall CBs

Every play in this playsheet (24 plays)

Nickel 2-49 plays

Dime 2-3-69 plays

Dime Rush6 plays

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Strengths

With 63% of the sheet in Dime across two sets, you can keep six defensive backs on the field against 11 and 10 personnel without subbing out of your preferred coverage players.
The Double Wr1 concept lets you bracket the opponent's best receiver, so you can erase a primary target when an opponent spams one route combo to the same player.
The Nickel 2-4-5 set puts four linebackers behind a two-man front, which makes LB Blitz and Simulated Pressure calls hard to read pre-snap because any of the four can rush or drop.
Cover 0, Zero Blitz and Edge Blitz calls give you true all-out pressure out of light personnel. You can punish quarterbacks who hold the ball or check into slow-developing deep shots.
With only 24 plays in three sets, your audible package and coverage adjustments are easy to master. You spend less time scrolling the play call screen and more time setting user assignments and shading.

Weaknesses

There is no base 4-3, 3-4 or goal line formation. Heavy personnel and I-form power runs force you to defend with Dime or Nickel bodies, and opponents can key on that by running downhill.
The coverage list has no Cover 2, Cover 4 or Cover 6 families. Your two-high looks are thin, and patient opponents can attack your single-high Cover 1 and Cover 3 shells with seams and posts.
The Nickel 2-4-5 set is the only five-DB option, and it rushes only two down linemen by default. Without a blitz tag you can generate very little four-man pressure out of it.
A heavy reliance on man and zero pressure leaves you exposed to mesh, drag and pick-style man beaters. A missed blitz pickup by you is fine, but a picked up Cover 0 means no deep help.
Three sets across 24 plays is a small menu, so a savvy opponent can learn your tendencies quickly over a long franchise season.

Usage Tips

Build your base audible package around the Dime 4-1-6 set. On 1st and 10 against spread looks, pair a Cover 3 or Cover 9 call with a Cover 1 changeup so you can check between zone and man pre-snap.

On 3rd and medium or 3rd and long, move to Big Dime 4-1-6 and call Double Wr1 against teams that feed one receiver. Save Zero Blitz or Edge Blitz for when the quarterback has shown he holds the ball.

When opponents come out in tight end-heavy looks on early downs or short yardage, audible to the Nickel 2-4-5 set. Your four linebackers can fill gaps, and the LB Blitz calls add an extra run fitter.

Use Simulated Pressure out of Nickel 2-4-5 on 2nd and long to show a blitz and drop into zone. It baits hot routes into your linebackers' underneath zones.

User-control a deep safety in Cover 1 and Cover 3 calls to patch the missing two-high looks. Shade coverage over the top against vertical threats instead of relying on the scheme alone.