Playbooks

Team Playbook

Saints Offense

TeamOffense

View the New Orleans Saints Team Hub

8Formations

42Sets

600Plays

Overview

Saints Offense and NFL Live Saints Offense are functionally the same playbook. They share all 600 plays and differ by 0 sets, so any audible package, scheme notes or practice reps you build in one carry over directly to the other. Pick whichever cut your mode offers and stop worrying about the label. At 600 plays across 8 formations and 42 sets, Saints Offense is larger than 54% of the game's 64 offensive team playbooks, which gives it real depth without becoming bloated. The defining trait is concentration: Shotgun holds 429 plays (72%) across 25 sets. That makes this a spread passing book first. The Shotgun volume supplies the quick game (Slant, Hitch, Spot and Flat concepts), the intermediate crossers (Drag and Crosser), and dedicated Cover 3 Beater calls, with Motion tags layered throughout to pre-read coverage. The remaining 28% is a compact but purposeful under center and Pistol package. Singleback has 60 plays across 5 sets, I Form has 39, Pistol has 36, Strong I has 18, Goal Line Offense has 12, and Hail Mary and Wildcat have 3 each. That covers downhill runs like 26 Duo, FB Dive, 0 1 Trap and Counter, along with Play Action and Block and Release shots. Wildcat shows up in only 15 of the game's 236 playbooks, so it is a genuine gadget piece. Personnel runs from 11 all the way to 23, which lets the game plan swing from empty-leaning Shotgun spacing to heavy 13 and 23 looks in short yardage. The book fits a user who wants to live in Shotgun, dissect zone with spacing and crossers, and punish loaded boxes with a physical run and play action menu when the defense sells out.

Scheme Fit

Saints Offense wants an accurate, quick-release pocket quarterback with strong short and medium accuracy to run the Shotgun spacing, plus a slot receiver and a tight end who can win on Drag, Crosser and Slant routes, along with a running back who can catch in the flat. Big-bodied tight ends and a real fullback make the Strong I, I Form and Goal Line packages functional. It suits a rhythm passer who likes reading coverage from the gun and mixing in a physical run game as a changeup, rather than a scrambler looking for a Pistol option offense.

Example Plays from this Playbook

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Strengths

Shotgun depth is elite: 429 plays across 25 sets means you can run the same Slant, Hitch, Drag and Crosser concepts out of many different alignments, so opponents cannot key on a single set to predict the route combo.
Dedicated Cover 3 Beater and Spot/Flat concepts inside the Shotgun volume give you built-in answers to the single-high and Cover 3 heavy defenses that dominate online play, without needing heavy hot routing.
Six personnel groups ranging from 11 to 23 let you force defensive substitutions, then audible into Shotgun spread or Goal Line power based on whether the opponent answers with nickel or base.
The under center package (Singleback, I Form, Strong I, Pistol) carries Duo, Trap, Counter and FB Dive plus Play Action and Block and Release calls, so you have a credible run-first changeup when the defense drops into dime to stop the Shotgun passing game.
Wildcat appears in only 15 of 236 playbooks, giving you a rare gadget look most opponents have never practiced against in short yardage or red zone situations.

Weaknesses

With 72% of plays in Shotgun, your tendencies are easy to scout: a defender who sees gun alignment can sit in pass-first coverage and nano blitz packages, since the gun run menu is not the book's identity.
Strong I holds only 18 plays across 2 sets and Goal Line Offense only 12 plays in 1 set, so your heavy short yardage menu is thin and repeat calls become predictable on third and one or at the goal line.
Pistol has only 36 plays across 4 sets, which limits the RPO style and read option variety that Pistol-centric books offer, so mobile quarterback users get less out of it than expected.
Wildcat and Hail Mary have just 3 plays each, meaning the gadget and last-play packages are one or two calls deep and lose value once an opponent has seen them.
Because the under center groups are compact, defenders who stack the box against Singleback and I Form can usually guess run versus play action from the handful of available sets.

Usage Tips

Build your base audible package around three or four Shotgun sets that share Slant, Drag and Cover 3 Beater calls, and live there on first and ten and second and medium, using Motion to identify man versus zone before the snap.

On third and 4 to 8, stay in Shotgun and pair a Crosser or Drag concept with a Spot/Flat combo so you have a zone beater and a man beater on the same call, then hot route the back to block if you see a pressure look.

On second and short or when the defense subs into dime against your Shotgun, swap to Singleback or I Form and call 26 Duo or 0 1 Trap, then come back with Play Action or Block and Release from the same set once the linebackers start creeping downhill.

Save Strong I and Goal Line Offense (13 and 23 personnel) for third and one and inside the five, mixing FB Dive with play action so the thin heavy package does not become a pure run tell.

Keep the 3 Wildcat plays in your back pocket for one high-leverage short yardage or red zone snap per game, since their value is surprise, and use the Hail Mary sets only for true end-of-half situations.