Play-Action Rate Leaders
Play-Action Rate — 2026 NFL leaders, updated Sep 29, 2026. Kansas City Chiefs led the league in play-action rate at 37.6%, ahead of 31 other qualifying teams. Based on verified play-level charting from FTN Data via nflverse, regular season only. Through Week 3 of the 2026 season.
Play action is the offense selling a run it never intended to hand off, and it works for a mechanical reason: a linebacker who takes even a false step toward the line is late getting to his drop, and the throwing lane behind him is open for exactly as long as that step lasted. The rate is a coordinator's decision rather than a quarterback's, which is why it holds steady from week to week and says something about the shape of a passing game before a snap is played.
| # | Team | Δ WK | G | PA% | PA | DB | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas City Chiefs | Up 1 place, from 2 | 3 | 37.6% | 41 | 109 | |
| 2 | Detroit Lions | Up 5 places, from 7 | 3 | 34.7% | 42 | 121 | |
| 3 | Seattle Seahawks | Down 2 places, from 1 | 3 | 34.7% | 35 | 101 | |
| 4 | Baltimore Ravens | No change | 3 | 34.1% | 30 | 88 | |
| 5 | Indianapolis Colts | No change | 3 | 33.3% | 36 | 108 | |
| 6 | Buffalo Bills | No change | 3 | 31.4% | 32 | 102 | |
| 7 | Minnesota Vikings | Up 1 place, from 8 | 3 | 29.2% | 26 | 89 | |
| 8 | San Francisco 49ers | Down 5 places, from 3 | 3 | 28.1% | 25 | 89 | |
| 9 | Los Angeles Chargers | No change | 3 | 26.9% | 28 | 104 | |
| 10 | New York Giants | Up 6 places, from 16 | 3 | 25.8% | 24 | 93 | |
| 11 | Jacksonville Jaguars | Up 4 places, from 15 | 3 | 25.6% | 22 | 86 | |
| 12 | Miami Dolphins | Up 12 places, from 24 | 3 | 25.2% | 27 | 107 | |
| 13 | Dallas Cowboys | Up 4 places, from 17 | 3 | 24.6% | 29 | 118 | |
| 14 | Los Angeles Rams | Down 1 place, from 13 | 3 | 24.4% | 29 | 119 | |
| 15 | Las Vegas Raiders | Down 3 places, from 12 | 3 | 23.5% | 24 | 102 | |
| 16 | Washington Commanders | Up 5 places, from 21 | 3 | 23.3% | 27 | 116 | |
| 17 | Pittsburgh Steelers | Up 2 places, from 19 | 3 | 23.2% | 29 | 125 | |
| 18 | Tennessee Titans | Up 2 places, from 20 | 3 | 23.2% | 23 | 99 | |
| 19 | Cleveland Browns | Down 1 place, from 18 | 3 | 23.1% | 24 | 104 | |
| 20 | Denver Broncos | Up 2 places, from 22 | 3 | 22.8% | 23 | 101 | |
| 21 | Carolina Panthers | Up 4 places, from 25 | 3 | 22.7% | 30 | 132 | |
| 22 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Down 11 places, from 11 | 3 | 22.1% | 27 | 122 | |
| 23 | New England Patriots | No change | 3 | 20.8% | 22 | 106 | |
| 24 | New York Jets | Down 10 places, from 14 | 3 | 20.8% | 25 | 120 | |
| 25 | Chicago Bears | Down 15 places, from 10 | 3 | 19.3% | 22 | 114 | |
| 26 | Atlanta Falcons | Up 3 places, from 29 | 3 | 18.7% | 17 | 91 | |
| 27 | Houston Texans | No change | 3 | 18.7% | 25 | 134 | |
| 28 | Cincinnati Bengals | Up 2 places, from 30 | 3 | 17.7% | 20 | 113 | |
| 29 | New Orleans Saints | Down 1 place, from 28 | 3 | 16.3% | 24 | 147 | |
| 30 | Arizona Cardinals | Up 1 place, from 31 | 3 | 15.4% | 19 | 123 | |
| 31 | Green Bay Packers | Up 1 place, from 32 | 3 | 14.4% | 19 | 132 | |
| 32 | Philadelphia Eagles | Down 6 places, from 26 | 3 | 13.2% | 14 | 106 |
Other seasons
More leaderboards
- Rushing Yards Over Expected
- Target Share
- Running Back Receiving Efficiency
- Completion Percentage Over Expected
- Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt
- Quarterback Pressure Rate
- Defensive Blitz Rate
- Quarterbacks vs Man and Zone Coverage
- Pass Rate Over Expected
- Clean-Core Rating
- Usage vs Production
- Team Expected Points Added
- Quarterback EPA per Dropback
- QB Composite Rating
- Air Yards Share
- Stacked Box Rate
- Regression Flags
- Weighted Opportunity Rating
- Snap Share
- Pass-Snap Share
- Receiving Yards per Pass Snap
- Availability
- Tight End Receiving Efficiency
- Tight End Average Depth of Target
- Stat Stickiness
- Pre-Snap Motion Rate
- Drop Rate
- Contested Catch Rate
- Interception-Worthy Throw Rate
- Quarterback-Fault Sack Rate
- Quarterback Intended Air Yards
- Team Air Yards and Passing Volume
- Receiver Separation and Cushion
- Wide Receiver Receiving Efficiency
- Team Success Rate and Explosive Play Rate
- Goal-Line Usage
- Quarterback Deep Ball
- Team Pace
Follow Play-Action Rate. When this board moves, you'll know — what changed, week over week.
Use Muffed in your AI
Ask Claude or ChatGPT football questions and get these verified figures back, with sources. Add https://muffed.ai/api/mcp — free, no account, no API key.