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Much has been made over the last few seasons about the tush push, the play that the Philadelphia Eagles made famous to pick up first downs in short yardage situations. The Eagles recently got some good news about the play, as NFL owners elected not to ban it despite safety concerns.
As it turns out, one of the architects of the tush push is a former rugby player from Scotland named Richie Gray, who has advised the Eagles on various plays and methods due to his prior friendship with Jason Kelce.
Recently, Gray outlined the dynamics of why the play is so successful.
“The play is over three levels, firstly, the offensive line. You’ve got some phenomenal O-line athletes at the Eagles, one of the heaviest in the league, some huge humans,” he said, per Eduardo Tansley of The Athletic. “You’ve then got Jalen Hurts, who is pound-for-pound one of the strongest quarterbacks in the league, so the play is completely made for his body type.”
Gray then broke down how the play's name is actually misleading.
“Then you’ve got two players in behind him who actually don’t add that much at all in the push. It’s called the push, but if you watch it, there’s actually not a lot of pushing involved in it,” he said. “It’s thought of as a pushing play, but a lot of the time, those two back pushers never get to Hurts. The job’s done before then. I always class it as organised mass.”
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An epic tool for the Eagles
While some fans may not know about its Scottish origins, there's no doubting how big of an impact the tush push has made in the NFL landscape over the last few years, as the Eagles have converted countless first downs and even touchdowns thanks to the unique lineup configuration.
The Eagles are now preparing to defend their Super Bowl championship, which they won in dominant fashion over the Kansas City Chiefs this past February.
With the tush push still at their disposal, it seems that they will be poised to do just that when next season gets underway.
