The term is also used to denote a specific plan of action, or its execution, under a particular set of circumstances faced by either team.
Well in advance of the particular game, a number of different kinds of forward pass plays will have been planned out and practiced by the team.
They will be designated by obscure words, letters and/or numbers so that the name of a play does not reveal its exact execution to outsiders.
Change of possession during a routine play may occur by interception or by fumble (often collectively referred to as turnovers).
Another way is through a change of possession play, when the offensive team (having perhaps surmised the unlikelihood of scoring or of achieving a first down within the allowed consecutive attempts to do so) kicks the ball away in what is known as a punt.