Eagles’ Unstoppable Tush Push Leaves NFL and Media in Full-On Complaints Mode
Kiel Leggere / Philadelphia Eagles
Live and die by the tush push.
It was a rematch of Super Bowl LVII and LIX this past Sunday, as the Philadelphia Eagles took on the Kansas City Chiefs in a heated primetime matchup. It’s the fifth consecutive season in a row, including playoffs, that the Chiefs and the Eagles have played each other.
While this matchup wasn’t the offensive clinic that the Eagles put on back in February, the outcome of the game was similar, as the Eagles defeated the Chiefs 20-17. Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley both recorded rushing touchdowns for the second week in a row, while through the air, Hurts added 101 yards with DeVonta Smith catching four balls for 53 yards.
It was a low-scoring battle between two of the NFL’s best and a huge win for the Eagles in an atmosphere that many consider the best in the league in Arrowhead Stadium. However, the main topic of the game wasn’t the high-tension game or the rowdy hatred between the two teams. The main thing that has been discussed over the past two days is the Eagles’ running of the tush push play.
If you’ve been living under a rock, the Eagles run a play that was dubbed by fans as the tush push, a modified quarterback sneak where the quarterback gets pushed forward by two players behind him. The Eagles, with a quarterback who can squat over 600 pounds and an offensive line that many consider to be the best in football, run this play to near perfection during games.
Whenever the Eagles come up in a situation where they need one yard, whether it’s on the goal line or at a midfield 4th and 1, Philadelphia uses it and executes it to near perfection. Despite this, many fans feel that the Eagles are using this play to cheat the system and that it’s an unfair play that should be banned.
It was taken to the league meetings back in March to be voted on whether or not it should still be allowed to be run, and after a vote, the league decided not to ban the play.
So that brings us back to Sunday’s game, where in the Eagles’ 20-17 win, Philadelphia ran the play seven times, accounting for 11.7% of their offensive play calls. Hurts’ rushing touchdown was also, you guessed it, on a tush push, and they even used it on 3rd and 1 at the end of the game to secure the final first down.
Throughout the game, multiple penalties were called against both the offense and defense for lining up offside or false-starting. Additionally, the referees missed false starts from the Eagles’ offensive line on some plays.
Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones said after the game that he felt the referees missed multiple false start calls on the Eagles’ push attempts.
While this may have been true, the blame shouldn’t fall on the Eagles. It should fall on the NFL and the officiating for not correcting the penalties when they happen in real time, because now, fans and people around the NFL feel the Eagles are cheating.
Many feel that if the Eagles were not allowed to use the tush push, the Chiefs would’ve won Sunday’s contest. ESPN Senior Insider Adam Schefter went as far as to say that the game was already decided back in March due to owners not voting to ban the play.
In my opinion, I do think the Eagles got away with a few false starts in Sunday’s game, and it did help them secure the victory. However, I’m still in the majority that this play isn’t the cheat code everyone thinks it is, as nobody else in the league can replicate the success the Eagles have with it.
If everyone could run the tush push like the Eagles, they would, but they can’t. Is the play kind of boring to watch? Yes, but at the same time, the Eagles are playing to win Super Bowls, and they’ll do whatever they have to to get back there and win. Until the tush push is banned, the Eagles will run it down every team’s throat. After the outcry from the NFL space this week, it’ll likely not make its return next season, so until then, live and die by the tush push.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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