Playbooks
Overview
Saints Defense and its sibling cut NFL Live Saints Defense are functionally the same book: they share all 344 of this playbook's plays and differ by zero sets. There is no hidden formation, no exclusive blitz package, no reason to agonize over the choice. Pick whichever one your menu surfaces first and spend the saved time building an audible package instead.
What you get is a 344 play defensive book spread across 9 formations and 22 sets, larger than 54% of the game's 64 defensive team playbooks, and it is unapologetically a sub package book. Nickel accounts for 148 plays (43%) across 7 sets, and Dime adds another 75 plays (22%) across 3 sets. That means roughly two thirds of every call you make comes out of five or six defensive backs. The 3-4 gives you 54 plays (16%) across 4 sets as your heaviest realistic front, and beyond that the tail is thin: 3-3-5 at 21 plays (6%), Goal Line Defense at 13 plays (4%) across 3 sets, Dollar at 12, 4-4 at 9, and 4-3 and Prevent at 6 each.
The concept list tells you how to play it: Cover 1, Cover 1 Robber Press, Cover 1 Hole, Man Coverage and Double Wr1 and Double Wr2 for shutting down a single read receiver, paired with Cover 3, Cover 3 Match, Cover 4 and Quarters when you want to sit on route combos, and Blitz, Corner Blitz, LB Blitz and 3 Deep Blitz as the pressure menu. Personnel depth is where this book really flexes: Big Nickel 5-1-5, Nickel 2-4-5, Nickel 4-2-5, Big Nickel 4-2-5, Big Dime 1-4-6, Big Dime 4-1-6, Dime 4-1-6, Dime 3-2-6 and Big Quarter 3-1-7 all live here, so you can change the number of down linemen and linebackers without ever leaving a coverage family you trust. This is a pass defense game plan first, run fits second.
Scheme Fit
Saints Defense wants man coverage cornerbacks with high press and man coverage ratings, at least one safety with the coverage and acceleration to play robber or hole from Cover 1, and edge rushers you trust to win one on one because Corner Blitz and LB Blitz calls leave the flat vacated behind them. With Nickel and Dime at 65% of the book, your third and fourth cornerbacks and your nickel defender matter more than your second run stopping linebacker, and a linebacker with real zone coverage ratings is worth more here than a thumper. Pick this book if you user a defensive back or a hybrid safety, you enjoy disguising pressure from identical sub package alignments, and you are comfortable answering heavy run personnel with shifts and manual gap fits rather than with a base front.
Example Plays from this Playbook
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Strengths
- Nickel at 148 plays across 7 sets is the deepest part of the book by a wide margin, and those 7 sets span Nickel 2-4-5, Nickel 4-2-5, Big Nickel 4-2-5 and Big Nickel 5-1-5, so you can flip from a two man front with four linebackers to a five man line without changing formation families or tipping personnel.
- Dime at 75 plays across 3 sets covers Dime 4-1-6, Dime 3-2-6, Big Dime 4-1-6 and Big Dime 1-4-6, which gives you four different ways to put six defensive backs on the field with completely different rush structures. Most defensive books force one Dime look and one rush count.
- Cover 1, Cover 1 Robber Press and Cover 1 Hole living alongside Double Wr1 and Double Wr2 means you can bracket an opponent's primary target from Nickel or Dime and still have a user defender free to rob the crosser.
- Corner Blitz, LB Blitz and 3 Deep Blitz out of the same Nickel and Dime sets let you show identical alignment and send pressure from different levels, so shifting the line and manually backing your blitzer off the edge disguises whether you are rushing four, five or six.
- Big Quarter 3-1-7 is a genuinely rare personnel group, and paired with Prevent it gives you a seven defensive back answer for two minute and long field situations without a coverage drop off.
Weaknesses
- Base 4-3 shows up as only 6 plays in one set and 4-4 as 9 plays in one set, so there is almost nothing here for grinding out a heavy run game. Against a commit to inside zone and power out of two back personnel you are defending with sub personnel and hoping your user fits the gap.
- Two thirds of the book (Nickel and Dime at 43% and 22%) comes from five or six defensive backs, which is an obvious pattern for any opponent tracking your calls. Once they know you are light in the box they will audible into heavy sets and run at whichever side you shifted your line away from.
- The 3-4 at 54 plays (16%) is your only real front with five in the box beyond Goal Line Defense, and 4 sets is not enough variety to hide your pressure looks once someone has seen your 3-4 blitzes twice.
- Goal Line Defense at 13 plays across 3 sets is a thin red zone package for a book this size. On third and goal from the two you are choosing from a short list, and Cover 1 based calls there are exposed to play action rollouts and drag concepts.
- Dollar at 12 plays in one set and 3-3-5 at 21 plays in one set both look useful on paper but neither has the volume to build a full down and distance plan around, so they end up as situational one offs rather than core packages.
Usage Tips
Build your primary audible package entirely out of Nickel, and specifically pair one Nickel 4-2-5 set with one Big Nickel 4-2-5 or Big Nickel 5-1-5 set. That covers everything from second and 6 through second and 12 and gives you a heavier front without a personnel change the offense can read.
Put Dime 4-1-6 and Dime 3-2-6 on your third and long audibles and alternate the rush count. Run 3 Deep Blitz when you need pressure and a Cover 3 Match or Quarters call when you are protecting a lead and just want the sticks defended.
Reach for Cover 1 Robber Press and Double Wr1 or Double Wr2 on third and 7 or longer against an opponent who feeds one receiver. Take the robber or hole defender as your user and sit on the shallow crosser rather than chasing the bracket.
Save Big Quarter 3-1-7 and Prevent for the final drive of a half, snaps inside your own 20 with the clock running down, or any third and 15 plus. With only 6 Prevent plays and one Big Quarter set, use them as closers, not as a normal down call.
Do not lean on the 3-4 as your run answer by default. Use its 4 sets for early down pressure out of Cover 3 and Cover 1, and when an opponent commits to heavy personnel, go to 4-4 or Goal Line Defense and shift the line into the strength pre snap instead of trying to fit runs from Nickel.
Formations in this playbook
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