They are two of the more delightful, in Philadelphia, and detestable, to the rest of the league, words that have escalated into the fast-evolving NFL lexicon.
Tush push.
No team has taken advantage of the rugby-style scrum — deemed so unstoppable that the NFL had flirted with the idea of banning the play — quite like the Philadelphia Eagles under coach Nick Sirianni and quarterback Jalen Hurts.
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Sirianni likes to say that every first down for the Eagles is first-and-9.
No example summed up how much the tush push can be a pain in the butt to the opposition quite like when the Eagles used it to maddening perfection against Washington in the NFC championship game. The Commanders jumped offside four times in a sequence of five plays while trying to stop the tush push, earning them a warning from the referee that he could award the Eagles a touchdown if the Commanders did it again.
It sounded implausible but it was true, right there in rule 12, section three, article two of the league’s rule book. Titled “Fouls To Prevent Score”, it states, “The defense shall not commit successive or repeated fouls to prevent a score”. Further, the rule reads that “if the violation is repeated after a warning, the score involved is awarded to the offensive team”.
Hurts, as he inevitably does, scored a touchdown.
So exactly what is the tush push?
It’s used in situations where the Eagles only need to advance a couple of yards, like when they’re on top of the goal line to score, or only need to advance a yard or two to earn another set of downs.
The quarterback, who for the Eagles is Jalen Hurts, is literally pushed forward through the defensive line by two players, usually the running back and tight end, who had lined up behind him.
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Other teams have tried it, but what makes it so effective for the Eagles is Hurts is also shielded behind Aussie left tackle Jordan Mailata and left guard Landon Dickerson, who between them weigh the better part of 320kg. Hurts himself also has incredibly powerful legs, and is able to squat about 270kg.
All this means this arrow formation is an incredibly difficult force to stop.
When the defensive line does try to stop it, the play resembles a massive all-in rugby scrum. Detractors believe it’s more of a show of brute force and doesn’t showcase the skill of NFL athletes.
“It’s a great concept, great play, hard to stop,” Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner said. “If I was them, I would run it, too.”
And they do. On repeat. The Eagles were successful on 28 of 34 tush push attempts this season, according to Next Gen Stats. Overall, Hurts converted 35 of 43 attempts this year on third- or fourth-and-1 from anywhere on field, plus any other runs from the one-yard line.
That’s the incredulous part — teams know the tush push is coming, fans at Lincoln Financial Field go wild when the Eagles line up in TP formation, and yet defences still can’t stop the score.
Just don’t tell Kansas City.
The Chiefs, who have mastered the art of everything from the improbable comeback win to defying the odds and the injuries that seem insurmountable en route to a third straight Super Bowl, might have unlocked the cheat code on stopping the tush push.
In the AFC title game, the Buffalo Bills converted only twice on six attempts with their tweaked version of the tush push. While the Eagles like to bunch together and push Hurts forward, the Bills and QB Josh Allen tend to lean left in their first-down attempts.
“[KC] put their big guys inside and their linebackers were coming downhill pretty hard,” Allen said after the game. “They played it well.”
Well enough to stop the Eagles?
The Eagles fell short to Kansas City 38-35 when they played each other in the Super Bowl two years ago, but it wasn’t because of the tush push. Hurts scored two touchdowns on the play against the Chiefs in the Super Bowl — and threw for 304 yards and accounted for four total TDs — then used the play against the Chiefs in the 2023 season to score the winning touchdown.
Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, whose complicated defensive playbook and reliance on blitzes are a big reason why the team is back on the NFL’s biggest stage, has had at least two weeks to devise a scheme to stop Hurts.
“I think the Eagles have perfected this thing over however many years it’s been and that offensive line, I think they’re built for it,” Spagnuolo said. “They could take that O-line and win some rugby tournaments. They’re that big and physical and they’ve really perfected the way they do it. I think it’s really tough to stop.”
Those teams that can’t stop it start making excuses.
Consider that Green Bay president and CEO Mark Murphy wrote on the team’s website after the Packers were eliminated by the Eagles that the tush push is “bad for the game”.
“There is no skill involved and it is almost an automatic first down on plays of a yard or less,” Murphy wrote. “The series of plays with the Commanders jumping offsides in the NFC Championship Game to try to stop the play was ridiculous … I would like to see the league prohibit pushing or aiding the run.”
Ban the tush push?
Sirianni can only scoff at critics who hate on the play.
“The success that we have is not always replicated around the entire league,” Sirianni said. “We saw it last week with the game plan we’re studying with Kansas City against Buffalo. Stopped them in a critical situation. I guess I’m lobbying to never change that rule because we’re successful at it. We’re successful at it because of the guys we have up front.”
The Eagles played to near push-perfection this season even after Cam Jurgens replaced the retired Jason Kelce at centre. It helps having a quarterback who can squat the weight of about three Saquon Barkleys in Hurts, and a stout offensive line that features Pro Bowl stars Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson.
Controversial or not, just maybe the Eagles can use the push to sneak away with a Super Bowl win.
– additional reporting by Damien McCartney