The Philadelphia Eagles are nearly unstoppable in short-yardage situations when quarterback Jalen Hurts runs a sneak behind his offensive line, and his running backs and tight ends push him over the line to gain. Ahead of the Washington Commanders Week 4 matchup with the Eagles, defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio says the NFL should outlaw the “tush push.” Since that’s not going to happen before Sunday, Del Rio and his defense are just getting ready for it.

“Well, it’s not being officiated at illegal, so we just have to prepare for it,” Del Rio told the media on Friday ahead of the Commanders’ Week 4 matchup. “I would personally like to see it eliminated. Not just because they run it better than anybody — although they do run it better than anybody — but I don’t think that’s a football play. I think that’s a nice rugby play, and not what we’re looking for in football. But until it’s outlawed, we’ll prepare for it and get ready to do our best to stop it.”

The “tush push” QB sneak has been growing in popularity in the last several years, but the truth is, dew teams execute it with the success of the Eagles.

In fact, the NFL has data from 2017-2022 that says when the QB is pushed, directly or indirectly, by his backs or tight ends, the sneak is successful 81.5% of the time. Conversely, sneaks without any kind of push (which happens much more often) only found success 84.1% of the time.

However, in 2022, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles converted their QB sneaks at a rate of 90.5%.

Jack Del Rio might not like it, but the truth is, the “tush push” sneak isn’t an unfair play by any means. It just becomes that way with Hurts and his teammates.