Getty Image
NFL teams have been virtually powerless to stop the “Tush Push” the Eagles have routinely deployed in short-yardage situations, and it sure sounds like they’re still going to have to figure out how to deal with that strategy despite the backlash it’s managed to generate.
Plenty of NFL teams have routinely deployed the QB sneak to gain a yard or two, but in 2022, the Philadelphia Eagles added a very intriguing twist to that particular formula by having a couple of players line up behind the quarterback to give him a solid shove forward to increase the odds of converting.
It was certainly an unconventional approach, but it wasn’t immediately viewed as revolutionary until it became evident what was eventually dubbed the “Tush Push” (a name that beat out an alternative in the form of the “Brotherly Shove”) had a staggeringly high success rate.
During its first year of existence, the Tush Push helped the Eagles gain the yards they were looking for 93.5% of the time, and Jalen Hurts racked up 13 rushing touchdowns after the play became the team’s go-to on the goal line (a number that rose to 15 during the 2023 campaign, where it was similarly unstoppable).
It wasn’t shocking to see other teams attempt to replicate that success, but nobody else was able to perfect Phildelphia’s secret formula.
That was a major source of frustration for plenty of critics who decided the only reasonable solution was to ban a play that is entirely legal under the current set of rules, and it seemed like there was a serious chance the NFL was going to consider a tweak that would essentially punish the Eagles for being better at football than everyone else by reviewing it over the offseason.
Thankfully, it appears reason has prevailed.
According to Pro Football Talk, Troy Vincent, the Executive Vice President of Football Operations for the NFL, recently downplayed the possibility of the Tush Push being banned while saying the league has harnessed a philosophy rooted in common sense: “Don’t punish a team that strategically does it well.”
Vincent said the Competition Committee didn’t even address the play during a recent meeting at the combine, and while he said teams will get the chance to raise the issue at another gathering scheduled for the end of March, it appears the momentum that picked up midway through the previous season has firmly fizzled out.