Ah, the “Tush Push”. The infamous play is now being rebranded as the “Brotherly Shove” by the Philadelphia Eagles fanbase. Who knew that such a simple play would be the subject of a lot of debates in the NFL? The league already reviewed the merits of this play and deemed it legal during the offseason.
However, after an incident in a recent game, the NFL is reportedly reviewing the “Tush Push”/”Brotherly Shove” in the offseason, per Adam Schefter. Interestingly, the play that “triggered” this review wasn’t an Eagles game, but rather the Seahawks/Giants game from last week. However, Schefter notes that for this season, at least, the play is here to stay.
“Brotherly shove: The controversial play has the attention of the competition committee, and the NFL and the NFLPA plan to study all the injury data related to the play, as is customary, during the off-season, per a league official, especially after two Giants were injured on the play Monday night. The brotherly shove also will be a topic of discussion during the off-season, as it was last off-season.”
What even is the Tush Push? Well, it’s essentially just a glorified quarterback sneak, with multiple players pushing the quarterback from behind. The Eagles have gotten insanely good at making quarterback sneaks work. However, many teams called for the league to review the play.
Some people argue that the play should be banned because, well, it’s an “unstoppable” play. As it turns out, though, this play isn’t always unstoppable. It’s “unstoppable” because the Eagles have the best center in the league and a quarterback that can hold his own in a scrum and then some. Not many other teams have a Jason Kelce or a Jalen Hurts on their team, and it shows in the sneaks attempted this season.
The injuries that Schefter is referring to is the injury to Giants tight end Daniel Bellinger. While attempting the quarterback sneak, the TE suffered an MCL sprain. Rookie center John Micahel Schmitz also injured his shoulder on the play. These are the arguments that the detractors of the Eagles’ pet action are using.