The Philadelphia Eagles rode the quarterback sneak termed the “tush push” to great success in recent years. The play, in which Jalen Hurts receives the snap and is pushed forward by his teammates, was nearly unstoppable in short yardage situations. And while all NFL teams have been permitted to run this play, it’s become synonymous with Philadelphia due to the Eagles’ incredible success rate when pushing. And that success led to a proposal to get the play banned by the competition committee.
After much debate about the merits of the play and the wisdom in barring it, the final vote is in. The tush push has survived as the proposal failed.
If you ask former defensive lineman and current NFL analyst Booger McFarland, the tush push surviving the proposed ban is a good thing. After all, “If you don’t like it, stop it. It’s really simple,” McFarland stated, via NFL on ESPN.
The Eagles can continue dominating with the Tush Push in 2025
“I’m extremely happy that it’s still around… Number one, everybody has the opportunity to do it in the National Football League… And I thought it would really be unfair to punish the Eagles because they have perfected this play based on their quarterback and his physical structure and how strong he is and based on how good their offensive line is,” McFarland pointed out, via ESPN.
“I get it, it’s a quote-unquote dangerous play based on what may happen. But until I see some injury data of something that has happened, I’m going to be where I am now, which is in favor of the tush push moving on,” McFarland noted.
One of the arguments in favor of the proposed ban was that the play is unsafe as it leads to increased injury risk. However, Eagles’ owner Jeffrey Lurie was quick to shut down injury concerns related to the play, citing a lack of data to indicate players getting hurt during the tush push.
The vote to ban the play fell short of the necessary 75 percent mark, and so it will continue to be a feature of the Eagles’ dominant short yardage offense. But the resolution was not without controversy. Lurie delivered a rant that became contentious at the meeting and the Eagles took to social media to rub in the failed effort to kill the play.
The Green Bay Packers were unmasked as the team that originally petitioned the NFL to eliminate the play from competition. This led to plenty of shade from Eagles players at the time. Now, Philadelphia has been vindicated.
