Feb 9, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) lines up for the tush push play on the goal line against the Kansas City Chiefs during Super Bowl LIX at Ceasars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
The NFL tried to kill the Tush Push in the offseason. It failed by two votes.
So, now, it's coordinating the equivalent of an activist campaign to try and make it more hated, more despised, and to procure the two more votes for next season.
And they are sending their best soldiers out into the field to do it.
Let's break it down.
During Sunday afternoon's Eagles-Chiefs game, the Eagles ran the Tush Push seven times and mostly saw successful results.
However, Tom Brady and the FOX broadcast crew pointed out that the Eagles' guards, Landon Dickerson and Tyler Steen, appeared to be false starting on the play:
The Eagles commit about 5 penalties during a Tush Push, and the NFL just doesn’t call them.
Center is offsides, guards false start.
Ban the play. pic.twitter.com/ffukdCEj7Q
Tom Brady, remember, is a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders, you may remember, were one of the teams that voted to ban the play.
Yet, his accusation isn't without merit. Watching the replay back, it's pretty clear that the linemen are moving before the ball is snapped. Even so, the referees failed to call any false starts – which is on them. If the Eagles should have been penalized and weren't, then don't blame the play, blame the people being paid by the league to adjudicate.
Furthermore, after the referees struggled multiple times to determine if the Eagles had gotten a first down via Tush Push, FOX rules analyst and (clears throat) former NFL Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino had this to say about the play:
"I am done with the tush push guys. It's a hard play to officiate." - @DeanBlandino pic.twitter.com/Qcg2jtx2I2
The talk didn't stop when the game ended. Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, who had already been caught on the hot mic complaining about Jalen Hurts, spoke about the play in his postgame press conference:
#Chiefs DT Chris Jones on the Eagles tush-push: "We think he jumped multiple times. An official didn't see it so it wasn't called."
(🎥 @NoahSaccoTV)pic.twitter.com/9WaM0AHSQs https://t.co/PsDfX96FTz
"We think he jumped multiple times," Jones said. "An official didn't see it, so it wasn't called, and we just have to go and play the next down."
There was no malicious intent on Jones' part. It is a true statement. The broadcast clearly showed that the Eagles' linemen were jumping before the ball was snapped.
So, this is going to be the new way of getting it banned. Trying to prove injury, which was erroneous, wasn't enough. Now, it's going to be that its too hard of a play for the zebras to officiate properly.
Classic.
The coup de gras though was when ESPN Senior NFL insider Adam Schefter went on ESPN's Get Up Monday morning, and when asked about how the Eagles' usage of the Tush Push affected the Chiefs, he had this to say:
"This game was lost in March. This game was lost when the NFL owners refused to ban the tush push from happening. It wasn't lost yesterday."
—@AdamSchefter on Eagles-Chiefs pic.twitter.com/rl60G5Pa6n
"This game was lost in March. This game was lost when the NFL owners refused to ban the Tush Push from happening," Schefter said. "And there might be a lot of games that the Eagles play that are lost in March, because this play is unstoppable... Even the officials don't know how to handle it."
Keep in mind how Schefter is the insider that he is. He's basically an information trader. It's one of those "I'll tell you what I know if you tell me something I don't." Everyone plays the game, knowing that the information they share with Schefter might make it out into the world, but they'll take that trade off if they find something else out about a rival, for example.
And when it comes to league matters, you can damn well be sure that he's going to regurgitate whatever the league is feeding him. After all, ESPN and the NFL are in bed together. It's hard to see who owns what anymore, but it's all very incestuous these days.
An NFL insider like Schefter joining the chorus of voices against the Tush Push is not a good sign for the Eagles' hopes to run the play beyond this season. The pushback against the Tush Push is picking up steam, and now it's apparent that the referees somehow don't have an answer for it.
The Eagles are not at fault for designing and running a play that magnifies their strengths. If the best football referees in the world can't officiate it, and if the best defenses can't stop it, so be it. Even so, unfortunately, the Tush Push is likely not long for this world.
And don't be surprised if before it's banned next offseason, that more doesn't happen. Can we see more penalties being called on the play? Possibly. Whether it's a false start. Or an illegal formation. Or whatever.
Something else is coming. Rest assured. This type of coordinated response is not a coincidence.
