As the NFL prepares for a pivotal vote on the “tush push” play, the Philadelphia Eagles are downplaying concerns surrounding its potential ban. The vote, scheduled for Wednesday during the league’s spring meeting in Minneapolis, follows discussions among team officials about the play’s effectiveness and its implications for the game.
The tush push is a short yardage goal line play where the quarterback’s teammates push him forward. It represented just 0.28% of all plays last season, according to ESPN Research. The Eagles and the Buffalo Bills are the two teams that employed this tactic more than any other teams. Collectively, they notched 163 of these pushes in the previous three seasons—more than all other NFL teams combined.
The Eagles have been dominant with this play! They’ve been phenomenally successful too, with a success rate of 87% – well above the league’s average rate of 71%. Seemingly joking, Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni calls the tush push “a little unfair” and “a little insulting.” While he hates it, he’s not worried at all that it will be banned anytime soon.
“I don’t ever remember a play being banned because a single team or a few teams were running it effectively,” Sirianni stated. “It’s part of what I think most of us love about football is it’s a chess match. Let the chess match play out.”
The tush push is really successful in large part due to the Eagles’ outstanding offensive line. Their quarterback, Jalen Hurts takes to the power as well with his squat of 600 pounds. Owner Jeffrey Lurie famously described the play as a “precision play.” More importantly, it has turned into an underrated staple of their offensive attack in previous years.
Eagles players sounded off on a ban, repeating Sirianni’s point that fretting over it isn’t going to help them achieve their championship dreams. Offensive lineman Jordan Mailata commented, “I can’t control it, we can’t control it, so we don’t even worry about it. Right now, we’re just installing our schemes… worrying about if they’re going to ban the tush push or not ain’t going to win us a championship.”
Wide receiver A.J. Brown expressed indifference regarding the potential ban, saying, “I don’t have any thoughts on it. It’s only 1 yard.”
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