You don’t have to run the ball well to have an effective play-action passing game. Defenders have their keys, rules, and responsibilities that they need to honor on each play, so play-action can work even if a running game isn’t succeeding or even if a similar-looking run hasn’t been called yet.
However, defenders are also human. They can get lulled into a pattern. In fact, the best defenders are always looking for opportunities to call out plays before they happen and stop the offense in its tracks.
So it helps to feed them the same look over and over and over again, set up a tendency, and then pull the rug out from the defense at just the right moment using play-action.
In Super Bowl LX, Seahawks Offensive Coordinator Klint Kubiak did just that, patiently calling run after run out of the same looks before breaking tendency for a back-breaking touchdown.
The trend that Kubiak established early on, and then throughout the game, was that the Seahawks would run outside zone to the 2-tight-end side if they were in 12 or 13 personnel. They did it out of static looks and they did it off of motion.
It started on the very first play of the game. Watch Kenneth Walker III take this to the 2-tight-end side and pick up 10 yards to get the Seahawks offense going:
On these next two examples, Kubiak motioned his tight end across the formation and then ran outside zone to the 2-tight-end side.
But pay close attention to Patriots linebacker Jack Gibbens (#51) on both plays. Notice how he attacked downhill right at the snap when he saw the motion, ready to defend the run: