Nguyen: ‘Tush push' lives to fight another day, here's why it should stay for good

New York Times

01-04-2025

NFL owners decided on Tuesday at the annual league meetings to shove the fate of the 'tush push' to a later date. By tabling a vote until May on whether to ban the much-debated quarterback sneak perfected by the Philadelphia Eagles, the play stays alive, and despite objection from some corners of the league, there's a good argument for keeping it that way.
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The tush push has been reviewed every offseason since 2022 when the Eagles, who call it the Brotherly Shove, began using it but this year is the first in which a team (the Packers) has proposed banning or restricting it. Packers president Mark Murphy wrote on the team website, 'It's bad for the game.'
But creating rules or banning the play based on arbitrary opinions shouldn't happen. Bills head coach and competition committee member Sean McDermott has cited safety reasons. However, when you look at all the contrived reasons for a tush push rule, it appears the league wants to create a discriminatory law targeting the Eagles, who are just better at executing the play than other teams who have tried.
The Eagles come out in a specific formation that essentially announces that they will attempt the tush push. Their offensive linemen close their splits and two players line up right behind the quarterback on each side of him to push him from behind. When the quarterback snaps the ball, every lineman fires off as low as possible, and the quarterback charges forward or veers slightly off in one direction, while he gets pushed from behind.
In 2006, the NFL changed the rule for assisting the runner. It became legal to push the ball carrier but it remained illegal to pull or lift them. The call was extremely rare before the rule change and ultimately, it was too difficult to legislate on the field. According to Football Zebras, the last time aiding the runner was called was in a divisional playoff game between the Chiefs and Bills in 1991.
Making it illegal to push the runner again might be how the league eventually bans the play. Interestingly, the Bills are among the league's most effective quarterback sneak teams. They use their version of the tush push with a fullback pushing on Josh Allen. When asked about their version, McDermott said he wouldn't define their sneak as a tush push.
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'We do it a little bit different than other teams,' McDermott told ESPN. 'One team, in particular, who does it a certain way, that's the one that is really … there's just so much force behind that player, but yeah, you try and keep … not try, you make No. 1 always everything we do, fundamentals, what we teach technique, in this case, what we ask our players to do, health and safety No. 1.'
Jalen Hurts QB sneak TD!
📺: #PHIvsTB on ABC📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/NkpBC1YFYJ pic.twitter.com/wjBcWRIvWr
— NFL (@NFL) September 26, 2023
Some defenses have countered by having defenders push on the backs of the first line of defense. Should the league also start penalizing the defense for aiding the tackler?
McDermott said there's so much behind one player, even though his quarterback gets pushed too, which suggests he may want to only get rid of one of the pushers in the Eagles' sneak. However, the league would have to make a rule that specifically applies to just quarterback sneaks because the reason they changed the rule in the first place was it's too difficult to legislate when a scrum is created during gang tackles. But if McDermott wants to restrict the Eagles while keeping his version legal, the optics could look disingenuous.
'There is no skill involved and it is almost an automatic first down on plays of a yard or less,' Murphy wrote.
If no skill is involved in the tush push, why are the Eagles better at executing it than other teams? According to Next Gen Stats, since 2022, in the regular season and playoffs, the Eagles' success rate running the play is 84 percent. The rest of the league is at 73 percent in the same span.
Richie Gray, a rugby consultant the Eagles brought in to discuss the play, said the Eagles are better at running it for several reasons. The Eagles have Jeff Stoutland, who is widely considered the best offensive line coach in the league. The team heavily invests in its offensive line and has one of the most physical units in the league and one of the strongest quarterbacks. They also invest the most time into perfecting it.
Matt LaFleur says the tush push isn't a 'great football play. It's more of a rugby play.' Also has safety concerns.
His full answer on proposing the ban: pic.twitter.com/dBcLlWEW7N
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) April 1, 2025
'The Eagles train it and have tactically and technically perfected it, and they put a lot of time into making it better,' Gray told Sky Sports. 'Any team can do it. The Giants tried it a couple of weeks ago and a couple of guys got injured, but I heard through the grapevine they would only ever run it during walk-throughs.'
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While Gray's quip about the Giants is merely an unconfirmed rumor, it's clear the Eagles have invested a lot in terms of personnel, research and practice time, which gives them an advantage — one that's been earned, not unfairly given to them. Is it fair to create a rule to take away something they've committed resources into while others have chosen not to?
Murphy, McDermott and coaches around the league have cited safety issues for wanting to talk about banning the tush push but right now, there isn't data showing it's more dangerous than any other play.
'I do worry about player health and safety,' McDermott said. 'The data is at this point a small sample and to me, there's not a lot coming out of it as far as that goes. And I just think we've got to do the right thing for the players and their health and safety. I don't want to see somebody get hurt… I really don't. And certainly, that hasn't happened to this point yet. But that is my concern more than anything.'
Much of the injury concern is more hypothetical but you can't create a rule based on what you think could happen. Last season, the league banned the hip-drop tackle based on data from a small sample size (about one hip-drop tackle per game). If players start getting hurt at a disproportionate rate on tush push plays, then a ban certainly should be considered, but the fact is, there is no data supporting safety concerns.
Meanwhile, fans have complained that the play doesn't look like football and is ugly. I would argue that advancing the ball is football. If you'd argue that the tush push isn't football, then we should consider banning kneel-downs, spikes and kicks.
No, it isn't the prettiest play but the 'watch experience' for a regular sneak or fullback dive is the same. Not every play is supposed to be spectacular, some are just necessary parts of the game and tools that teams use.
If the NFL decides to ban it, will they ban the formation? Will they make it illegal to push the runner specifically on quarterback sneaks? Will they eliminate just one of the pushers?
There isn't data or a basis to implement those rules. Where the NFL can crack down on is offensive linemen lining up in the neutral zone on the tush push.
I don't think the Tush Push should be banned, they just need to make the refs actually do their job and enforce illegal formations.
Offensive lineman should not have a full 2 yards of grace in where they can line up.
Banning the play is lazy, just enforce the rule. pic.twitter.com/0qOFbOajCR
— Kurt Benkert (@KurtBenkert) March 29, 2025