Playbooks
Overview
NFL Live Saints Defense is functionally the same book as its sibling cut, Saints Defense. They share all 344 plays and differ by zero sets, so the choice between them is a menu label rather than a strategic decision. If you already have muscle memory in one, there is nothing to relearn in the other. Pick whichever one your franchise file presents and move on to the part that actually matters: this is a 344 play defensive book spread over 9 formations and 22 sets, larger than 54 percent of the game's 64 defensive team playbooks, and its weight is concentrated hard in sub packages.
Nickel carries 148 plays (43 percent) across 7 sets, which is the widest sub package menu in the book by a large margin, and Dime adds another 75 plays (22 percent) across 3 sets. That means 65 percent of this playbook lives in five and six defensive back looks built around Big Nickel 5-1-5, Nickel 2-4-5, Nickel 4-2-5, Big Nickel 4-2-5, Dime 4-1-6, Dime 3-2-6, Big Dime 1-4-6 and Big Dime 4-1-6. The concept list matches the personnel: Cover 1, Cover 1 Robber Press, Cover 1 Hole, Man Coverage, Double Wr1 and Double Wr2 for the man side, plus Cover 3, Cover 3 Match, Cover 4, Quarters and general Zone Coverage for the match side. Pressure comes from Blitz, LB Blitz and Corner Blitz packages, with calls like 0 LB Cross Games, 3 Deep Blitz, Corner Blitz 2 and Cov 1 QB Contain Spy giving you both free rushers and a contain answer against scrambling quarterbacks.
The front seven work is real but narrower. 3-4 gets 54 plays (16 percent) across 4 sets out of Base 3-4 and Base 5-2 personnel, and the odd front 3-3-5 chips in 21 plays from a single set. Below that the book thins out fast: Dollar (12 plays, 1 set, Big Quarter 3-1-7), 4-4 (9 plays), 4-3 (6 plays), Prevent (6 plays) and Goal Line Defense (13 plays across 3 sets in 6-2-3). This is a pass defense first game plan. You are meant to live in Nickel on early downs, slide to Dime and Dollar on obvious drop back situations, and use the 3-4 and 3-3-5 blocks as your disguise and pressure change up rather than as a true run stopping base.
Scheme Fit
This book wants a secondary before it wants a front: two press capable outside corners with high Man Coverage and Press ratings, a nickel or slot defender who can survive one on one, and a safety with Zone Coverage and Play Recognition you trust to play the robber and hole assignments in Cover 1 Robber Press and Cover 1 Hole. Because 65 percent of the plays are Nickel and Dime, you need at least three edge or hybrid rushers who can generate pressure with four, plus one linebacker with speed and Pursuit to cover ground in the 3-3-5 and Dime sets where you are light in the box. Pick NFL Live Saints Defense if you user the deep middle or a slot defender, enjoy disguising man and match coverages from identical sub shells, and are comfortable manually shifting the line and using formation subs instead of leaning on a heavy base front.
Example Plays from this Playbook
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Strengths
- Seven Nickel sets and 148 plays give you a deeper sub package audible tree than almost any front heavy book, so you can rotate Big Nickel 5-1-5, Nickel 2-4-5, Nickel 4-2-5 and Big Nickel 4-2-5 shells that look identical pre snap while sitting in totally different coverages.
- Cover 1 volume is unusually strong for a book this pass leaning: Cover 1 Robber Press, Cover 1 Hole and plain Cover 1 let you press at the line, drop a robber over the middle and user the hole player yourself without changing personnel or tipping the call.
- Double Wr1 and Double Wr2 concepts inside the Nickel and Dime blocks are a built in answer to a single elite receiver, so you can bracket the X or the slot without hand building the coverage from hot routes every snap.
- 22 sets across 9 formations means real pre snap disguise: shift the line, spread or pinch the linebackers, then flip from Cover 3 Match or Quarters into a Corner Blitz look, and the same formation shows two different pictures on back to back plays.
- 75 Dime plays plus the Big Quarter 3-1-7 Dollar set give you a true two tier obvious pass package, so you are not forced to defend four verticals out of a five DB shell on third and long.
Weaknesses
- Heavy run fronts are nearly absent: 4-4 has 9 plays and 4-3 has 6 plays, so an opponent who identifies you as a Nickel and Dime player can run inside zone and power at your sub personnel all game and you have almost no true base front to answer with.
- Goal Line Defense is only 13 plays across 3 sets, which is thin for short yardage and inside the five, and the 6-2-3 personnel is your only real answer there.
- With 65 percent of the book in Nickel and Dime, a smart opponent will spam two tight end and heavy sets to force you into formation subs and manual line shifts instead of a clean audible, which costs you clock every snap.
- Prevent is a single set with 6 plays, so end of half and end of game situations offer almost no variety and become predictable once your opponent sees the same shell twice.
- 3-3-5 is a single set with 21 plays, meaning your odd front change up is easy to recognize and easy to block once the opponent has seen the handful of calls inside it.
Usage Tips
Build your primary audible package inside Nickel, using one Big Nickel 5-1-5 or Big Nickel 4-2-5 set for first and second down and one Nickel 2-4-5 or Nickel 4-2-5 set for pressure, and live there on every down between second and eight and third and six.
Save Dime and its three sets for third and eight or longer, and pull the Big Quarter 3-1-7 Dollar set only on third and fifteen plus or after a sack, since 12 plays is not enough to hide a pattern.
Use 3-4 on first down when you expect run, then shift the front and drop into Cover 3 Match or Quarters, so the 54 plays in Base 3-4 and Base 5-2 double as your run answer and your play action insurance against rollouts.
Keep Cov 1 QB Contain Spy on the flick against mobile quarterbacks and pair it with 3 Deep Blitz or Corner Blitz 2 from the same Nickel set, so the scramble answer and the free rusher look the same before the snap.
Anchor short yardage and red zone calls in Goal Line Defense with the 6-2-3 personnel, and because it is only 13 plays, mix in a pinched 3-4 or 4-4 look on second and goal so you are not showing the same package twice in a drive.
Formations in this playbook
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