Philadelphia Eagles and their controversial “tush push” play continues this season. They aren’t discouraged by continued investigation and calls for its prohibition. Most notably players such as Jordan Mailata and Jason Kelce have come to the tactic’s defense. This strategy proved pivotal in the Eagles’ recent upset win over the juggernaut Kansas City Chiefs. The new play has kicked off a new discussion among NFL insiders. This conversation became especially charged once Mark Murphy, the guy who initially drafted a proposal to ban the play, retired in July.
In this year’s Eagles’ Super Bowl matchup against the Chiefs, the Eagles ran the tush push six times, proving its obvious effectiveness. Critics, including some of the nation’s top baseball players, believe that the play threatens fairness in the game. Mailata recently addressed these criticisms, asserting that detractors are merely using the tush push as an excuse for the Eagles’ success.
“They just want to complain about something. They can’t just say that we played better than them,” – Jordan Mailata
Jason Kelce seems pretty happy about it as well. And last spring, he brought that case directly to NFL owners. He made it clear that the tush push is a powerful strategic weapon, perfectly within the rules of the game. Kelce even admitted that this criticism could resurface and spark another renewed effort to outlaw the play in future years. He’s nonetheless undeterred in its legitimacy.
Philly’s own Mark Murphy made the proposal to ban the tush push, and it received 22 votes in favor last spring’s owners meeting. It lost by two votes, and we haven’t made any headway on this issue yet this season. Kelce is hopeful that continued criticism will lead another team to an alternative proposal. This proposal would instead require prohibiting the play during this season’s second half.
Center Cam Jurgens piped in as well, bringing it back to the team’s mindset of focusing on what’s happening inside the lines rather than outside noise.
“We’re not trying to worry about what other teams or people are saying. We’re trying to worry about what we’re doing in here,” – Cam Jurgens
The discussion about the tush push is part of a bigger discussion about gameplay strategy in the NFL. Yet, some teams and fans have frequently expressed concerns about the process’ fairness. At the same time, some laud it as a great new treatment of an experimental move used by creative practitioners.
As the season progresses, attention will remain on how often the Eagles employ the tush push and whether any significant changes will be made regarding its future in the league. The Eagles don’t seem to have any plans to stop using this strategy, as they work to repeat last year’s success during a new season.
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