USA Today
The Tush Push the Eagles Executed so Well all Season may Be Banned in Offseason
Tush Push.
Cute name. Big play for the Eagles this past season.
Now, the NFL may be ready to toss the Tush Push out the door and onto its backside.
Of the many things the Eagles did well this season on their way to a second Super Bowl appearance in five years, one of them was the quarterback sneak.
With Jalen Hurts lined up tight behind center Jason Kelce and two, sometimes three, players line up right behind Hurts to push him like crazy when the ball is snapped – hence the Tush Push.
The Eagles were successful 36 of 39 times (92.3%) with Hurts, who can squat more than 600 pounds and is one of the strongest QBs in the league.
Overall, with Gardner Minshew added the to mix for the two games he started, Philly was 37-for-41 (90.2%).
The Eagles also ran a quick pitch off the play. Lining up like the Tush Push was imminent, a tight end would go in motion and the ball would be flipped to a RB for a sweep that also was successful on the handful of times it was called.
In Super Bowl LVII, Hurts picked up 10 first downs, six of those came on quarterback sneaks.
Sometimes it can backfire.
Right guard Isaac Seumalo flinched during one third-and-one in the Super Bowl, causing a motion penalty to be called. On the ensuing play from there, Hurts rolled right to pass and dropped the ball. It was recovered by Kansas City’s Nick Bolton, who raced 36 yards for a touchdown.
Still, the NFL isn’t crazy about how the Eagles exploited a rule that had been on the books since 2005.
“I think the league is going to look at this, and I’d be shocked if they don’t make a change,’’ said Dean Blandino, a rules analyst for Fox Sports and The 33rd Team, who was the NFL’s vice-president of officiating from 2013 to 2017.
Blandino said the play isn’t “aesthetically pleasing.”
“It amounts to a rugby scrum,” he said. “The NFL wants to showcase the athleticism and skill of our athletes. This is just not a skillful play.”
Scheduled to meet in two weeks at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis and again in late March in Phoenix, NFL owners are expected to take a close look at changing the rule after Nick Sirianni found a way to use it efficiently.
Pushing a ball carrier forward is allowed. Pulling a ball carrier forward is not.
Evidently, the NFL doesn't like the way Sirianni made it work so well and fears that more teams could do it.
In fact, Blandino said that new Broncos coach Sean Payton told him that he would use it all the time with Russell Wilson. No doubt, more teams would.
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglestoday.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
