The Philadelphia Eagles will take on the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football. Most of the narratives will be centered around the players and the teams, as usual. After a complete win over the New York Giants before the bye week, can Philly maintain that form against a contender? Or will Green Bay, fueled by their upset loss to the Carolina Panthers, come out on top?
However, there's one storyline here that might fly under the radar: the Eagles' Tush Push. The now-infamous play was nearly banned last season after a push from multiple teams. The spearhead of that movement? The Packers. Now, Philly will take on one of the Tush Push's biggest detractors, and they're ready to get extra petty.
According to ESPN's feature on the Eagles-Packers game, there's a strong feeling that the Eagles might run the Tush Push more against the Packers this game. One gambling site has even put up a bet on how many times Philly will run their iconic play.
“At least one online gambling site, BetOnline, released an over/under for the number of times the Eagles will run the tush push against the Packers on Monday,” Rob Demovsky wrote. “It was set at 1.5.”
Demovsky also talked to a long-time offensive assistant, who predicts that the Eagles will run the Tush Push more out of sheer spite.
“When asked how many times he thinks they're going to run, he said: ‘Over and over and over and over. Heck, they might run it on second-and-2 just to shove it in your face,” Demovsky wrote. “‘Does it belong in football? I don't know. They're not the only team that's running it. I've seen other teams do it. Stop it or join the party.'”
The Eagles love to run the Tush Push in short-yardage situations. Even though their success rate on the play has lowered over the years, a 76.5% conversion rate is still great odds for a team. There was even one instance this seasn where the Eagles ran the Tush Push four consecutive times. That led Packers star Micah Parsons to say, “This is not football!” in reaction to the play.
Now, the Eagles will take on the Packers in a battle for NFC supremacy. Expect Philly to come out guns blazing and ready to use their favorite weapon when the need arises.
