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A play action pass is a type of American football play. The play action, or “PA” for short, appears to be a running play, but is actually a pass play; in this way, it can be considered the opposite of a draw play. Play action passes are usually used against defenses that gear up to stop the run. By looking like a run at first, the offense hopes to get the defense to “bite” on the run fake and be out of position in their pass coverage, giving receivers more time and room to get open behind them.

Offensive action during a play action pass

• The quarterback takes the snap and drops back to hand off to the running back.
• The running back gets ready to take the hand-off.
• The quarterback quickly pulls the ball back from the hand-off position, trying to hide it from the defense. He then looks down-field for an open receiver.
• The running back continues to move upfield as if he has the ball in his hands.
• The offensive line comes off the ball to run block, but goes into pass protection soon afterward.
• The receivers “sell” the running play by appearing to block at first, then break off into their routes.

Play action passes are difficult to run effectively if a team does not have at least a threat of a running game. A team without a good running attack will have a hard time fooling the defense into thinking a run is coming.