Playbooks
Overview
Raiders Defense and its sibling cut NFL Live Raiders Defense are effectively the same book. They share all 329 plays and differ by zero sets, so picking one over the other is a cosmetic choice rather than a schematic one. If you have already built an audible package in one, it transfers cleanly to the other with no missing formations to rebuild around.
At 329 plays across 8 formations and 22 sets, this is a mid-sized defensive book (bigger than 32% of the game's 64 defensive team playbooks) that is unmistakably a sub-package defense. Nickel accounts for 145 plays (44%) spread over 8 sets, and Dime adds another 75 plays (23%) across 3 sets. That means two thirds of everything in here is a five or six defensive back look. Base personnel is an afterthought: 3-4 gets 33 plays (10%), 4-3 gets 30 (9%), and 4-4 is down to a single set with 9 plays (3%). The concept list reflects the same priority, with Cover 1, Cover 1 Hole, Cover 3, Cover 3 Match, Cover 4, Quarters, Cover 6, Cover 2 and a dedicated Blitz and LB Blitz family all running through DB-heavy fronts.
The game plan this supports is a pass-first, man-and-match defense that lives in Nickel on early downs and slides to Dime on obvious passing situations. Calls like Cover 1 Hole, 1 Double TE and 1 Double Slot give you bracket answers against a single dangerous target, 3 Deep Blitz and 60 Half Out cover the pressure and split-field side, and Cov 1 QB Contain Spy is the answer for scramblers. The 2-4-5 set (18 plays) is the wrinkle that makes the book dangerous: two-down-lineman light fronts with stand-up rushers that disguise who is coming. Goal Line Defense (13 plays, 3 sets) and Prevent (6 plays, 1 set) round out the situational edges.
Scheme Fit
This book wants defensive backs, plural: three quality corners plus two safeties who can match a slot, because 220 of its 329 plays are Nickel or Dime and you will rarely leave sub personnel. You also need at least one linebacker with speed and high zone coverage for the Cover 1 Hole and spy roles, and an edge rusher who can win one on one so the four man rush concepts hold up while you play match coverage behind them. Pick it if you user a safety or a linebacker, prefer man and match over pure zone, and are comfortable defending the run out of light boxes instead of calling heavy fronts.
Example Plays from this Playbook
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Strengths
- Nickel depth is the headline: 145 plays across 8 sets means you can build an entire audible package inside one personnel group and flip between Big Nickel 4-2-5 and Nickel 4-2-5 shells without ever tipping a substitution to the opponent.
- Dime at 75 plays across 3 sets, including Big Dime 4-1-6, Big Dime 2-3-6 and Dime 4-1-6, gives you real third and long variety rather than a single set you get read out of, so you can rotate pressure looks and match concepts on the same personnel.
- The man coverage family is unusually complete for a team book: Cover 1, Cover 1 Hole, 1 Double TE and 1 Double Slot let you bracket a tight end or slot without hot routing a defender out of position, which is the cleanest way to take away a single-read opponent.
- The 2-4-5 set (18 plays) and Big Quarter 3-1-7 personnel give you disguise tools most books lack, letting you shift the line, show pressure from stand-up rushers, and drop out into Cover 3 Match or Quarters post-snap.
- Split-field and match concepts (Cover 6, Cover 3 Match, Quarters, 60 Half Out) let you defend one strong side differently from the other, which pairs well with a user-controlled safety roaming the weak hash.
Weaknesses
- Two thirds of the book sits in Nickel and Dime, so a committed heavy personnel run game forces you into the thinnest part of the playbook: 4-4 has a single set with 9 plays and 4-3 only 30 across 3 sets.
- The 3-4 section is just 33 plays over 2 sets, so if you want true two-gap front variety or heavy odd-front pressure packages you are going to be recycling the same handful of calls until an opponent memorizes the rush lanes.
- Man-heavy concept coverage means opponents who lean on drags, mesh, crossers and pick concepts can attack Cover 1 and Cover 1 Hole all game, and the bracket calls (1 Double TE, 1 Double Slot) only solve one receiver at a time.
- Prevent is 6 plays in a single set, which is thin for end-of-half management, so you will be riding Dime and hot routing defenders deeper rather than calling a purpose-built shell.
- Goal Line Defense at 13 plays across 3 sets is workable but limited, and because the book trains you to live in sub packages, the personnel swap on the goal line is a noticeable pre-snap tell.
Usage Tips
Anchor your audible package in Nickel, specifically a Big Nickel 4-2-5 set and a Nickel 4-2-5 set, and keep a Cover 1 Hole, a Cover 3 Match and a blitz on the same page so first and ten, second and medium and second and long all come from one look.
Go to Dime (Big Dime 4-1-6 or Dime 4-1-6) on third and seven plus, and use Big Dime 2-3-6 when you want to walk rushers up and disguise whether it is four man rush or a six man pressure.
Save Cov 1 QB Contain Spy for third down against a mobile quarterback, and pair it with a user-controlled linebacker so the spy stays honest instead of chasing the first crosser.
Use 1 Double TE and 1 Double Slot as situational answers, not base calls: identify the opponent's primary target pre-snap, bracket him, and force the ball outside where your Cover 1 corners have help behind them.
Accept that 4-3, 3-4 and 4-4 are your short yardage package, not your base, and call them on third and one, fourth and short and goal to go rather than trying to defend early downs with 9 plays out of a single 4-4 set.
Formations in this playbook
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