NFL should put a stop to the Eagles' 'tush push' play
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - DECEMBER 03: Jalen Hurts #1 of the Philadelphia Eagles scores a touchdown in the third quarter against the San Francisco 49ers defends at Lincoln Financial Field on December 03, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) Credit: Getty Images/Mitchell Leff
The only good thing about the Eagles’ reinvention of short-yardage plays is the clever nicknames it has inspired, notably: “tush push” and “brotherly shove.”
That is high-quality wordplay by pro sports standards. Beyond that, though: ick.
Sure, it would be unfair to penalize the Eagles — who will play the Giants on Monday and again on Jan. 7 — for perfecting an art that has been legal in the NFL since 2005.
But it is unfair to the rest of us to have to watch this stuff, an unsightly mass of bodies that often is compared to a rugby scrum as opposed to an actual football play.
It is uninteresting and does nothing to improve player safety. It looks like a play not from 2005 but rather 1905, before the forward pass was legalized.
You might not be surprised to learn the Eagles do not agree with any of this, what with their more than 90% success rate over the past couple of seasons when one yard is required on third or fourth down.
Overall on third and fourth down, they lead the NFL with a 51% success rate. And on fourth downs alone, they have a league-best 72.7% conversion rate.
How do they do it? They have an excellent line centered by veteran pillar Jason Kelce and a powerful quarterback in Jalen Hurts.
Offensive players who do not play for the Eagles tend to be on their side. When I asked the Giants’ Saquon Barkley about it on Thursday, he endorsed keeping the rule as is, then began polling nearby offensive teammates, all of whom agreed.
“I don’t see why it shouldn’t be [legal],” Barkley said. “In my opinion, they just happen to be really good at it. Not every team is good at the ‘tush push.’ ”
The Giants, who have not used the strategy much, lost two players to injury on an unsuccessful fourth-and-1 mosh pit against Seattle in early October.
Might there be elements of the strategy the Giants could employ, though?
“I think that they have a really good offensive line and I think they have a quarterback that can squat over 600 pounds,” Barkley said. “I don’t think a lot of teams have that.
“No diss to Tyrod [Taylor], D.J. [Daniel Jones] or Tommy [DeVito]. I know D.J. gets in there and wants to squat heavy, but I don’t think he can squat the number that Jalen can squat.”
Barkley added, “So unless I start learning how to do quarterback sneaks, I don’t really know if we can put that into our game.”
Defensive coaches and players are not as enamored of the play, naturally.
Kayvon Thibodeaux put it simply: “If I played offense, it would be easier for me to just get one yard than the defense to stop me from getting one yard.”
Fair enough. But for now, there is no recourse but to make the best of it, as the NFL does not appear inclined to change the rule.
Asked if he has figured out how to deal with the Eagles’ strategy, coordinator Wink Martindale said, “Everybody probably says, ‘Yeah.’ I mean, what is it, a 96% success rate on that rugby [play]?”
The Giants’ chances will be better if they have nose tackle Dexter Lawrence. He has been limited by a hamstring injury and did not practice Thursday.
Lawrence would help against Kelce. “This guy, to me, is a first-ballot Hall of Famer,” Martindale said of the center. “He embodies Philly. Just like the fans: mean but smart.”
The more Martindale talked about the “tush push,” the less appealing it sounded.
“If you see a rugby scrum, it goes this way, it goes this way, it goes this way, it goes this way,” he said, pointing fingers in different directions.
“If it moves at all a little bit forward, they are going to give them the forward progress. It doesn’t matter how you play it . . . I think every defensive coordinator, every coach in this league, has looked at different ways to try to stop it and it’s just a tough play to stop.”
Credit the Eagles for that. But there is one group that can and should stop this play: NFL rulesmakers.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
