Playbooks
Overview
Lions Offense and NFL Live Lions Offense are effectively the same playbook. The sibling cut shares all 578 of this book's plays and differs by zero sets, so every formation, set and play call you learn here carries over directly. Pick whichever cut your mode offers and you lose nothing. At 578 plays across 7 formations and 41 sets, Lions Offense sits near the bottom of the 64 offensive team playbooks in raw play count. That leaner menu is organized around a clear identity rather than trying to cover every look.
The core of the book is Shotgun, which accounts for 371 plays (64%) spread across 22 sets. That is where the passing game lives: drags, crossers, flats, spots, hitches, slants, posts and dedicated Cover 3 beaters, with calls like DBL Outs giving you quick outside answers. Singleback adds 111 plays (19%) across 9 sets as the main under center changeup for play action and balanced run looks. The remaining 17% is a heavy bodies package of I Form (48 plays), Maryland I (21), Goal Line Offense (15) and Strong I (9), fed by run calls such as FB Dive, 0 1 Trap and Counter Weak.
The standout is Maryland I, a formation that appears in only 5 of the game's 236 playbooks. Combined with personnel groupings that run from 11 all the way to 30 (three backs) and 23, Lions Offense supports a game plan built on spread passing from the gun on normal downs, then a hard shift into downhill, multi back power when the field shrinks or you want to shorten the game. Most of the time you will be spreading defenses out and attacking zone with crossers. In short yardage and at the goal line, you can line up in looks the opponent almost never practices against.
Scheme Fit
Lions Offense wants an accurate, quick release quarterback who can read single high versus two high shells from the gun, plus route running slot receivers and a tight end who win on drags, crossers and hitches. It also needs a physical fullback or second back and big bodied blockers to make the Maryland I, I Form and Goal Line packages work, so it suits a player who wants to spread defenses out for most of the game and then bully them in short yardage.
Example Plays from this Playbook
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Strengths
- Maryland I is available in only 5 of 236 playbooks, so its 21 plays give you a short yardage and goal line look that most opponents have never game planned against, and their user defenders often misread the triple back flow on traps and counters.
- With 371 Shotgun plays across 22 sets, you can run the same drag, crosser, spot and slant concepts from many different alignments, which disguises your reads and lets you stay in one base personnel while the defense cycles through coverage checks.
- Dedicated Cover 3 beater concepts alongside post, flat and crosser combos give you a built in zone answer from the gun, so you can check into a known beater after reading a single high safety without burning a timeout or relying only on hot routes.
- The personnel range from 11 to 30 and 23 lets you use formation subs to force defensive substitution mismatches, going from three receiver spread looks to three back or three tight end packages that punish nickel and dime personnel left on the field.
- Singleback's 111 plays across 9 sets give you a genuine under center play action layer, so Block and Release and Motion tags can sell the run before you attack intermediate windows with posts and crossers.
Weaknesses
- At 64% Shotgun, your tendencies are easy to scout: an opponent who sees a gun set on early downs can lean into pass defense, sit in zone coverage and bring nano blitz pressure without much fear of the run.
- The power package is thin in volume, with just 48 I Form plays, 21 Maryland I, 15 Goal Line and 9 Strong I, so a heavy run game gets repetitive quickly and a sharp defender will start keying your few favorite calls.
- The book sits near the bottom of the 64 offensive team playbooks in total play count, which means fewer exotic sets and fewer answers once an opponent has adjusted to your core concepts.
- The listed concepts lean heavily toward short and intermediate zone beaters like drags, flats, spots and hitches, so against tight press man you will lean on hot routes and slants rather than a deep menu of dedicated man beaters.
- Only 3 Hail Mary plays across 2 sets means end of half and end of game desperation situations rely on Goal Post and very little else.
Usage Tips
Build your base audible package around Shotgun sets on 1st and 10 and 2nd and medium, keeping a Cover 3 beater, a drag or crosser combo, and a quick game call like DBL Outs ready so you can check to the right beater after reading the safety shell.
On 2nd and short or 3rd and 1, go from Shotgun into Maryland I and call 0 1 Trap or FB Dive, since the formation change forces the defense to sub and very few players have practiced defending three back alignments.
Use Singleback on 1st and 10 after you have established Shotgun passing, pairing play action with Block and Release or Motion tags to slow down blitzers and open up post and crosser windows over the linebackers.
Inside the 5, alternate Goal Line Offense and Strong I runs like Counter Weak with the occasional play action pass so the defense cannot sell out on your inside run calls.
When protecting a lead in the 4th quarter, shift into I Form and Maryland I to drain clock, but mix in a Singleback play action shot every few series to keep safeties honest.
Formations in this playbook
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