MARCH 31: Although McDermott’s team has increasingly turned to using a version of this play, the competition committee member confirmed Monday (via 94WIP.com’s Eliot Shorr-Parks) he would support banning it. This sets up a rather significant vote Tuesday.
MARCH 30: In 2022, the Eagles introduced the “tush push,” an extremely effective quarterback sneak with players pushing Jalen Hurts from behind to secure first downs in short-yardage situations. Three years later, the NFL is considering banning the play based on a proposal submitted by the Packers.
The proposed rule change would “prohibit an offensive player from pushing a teammate who was lined up directly behind the snapper and receives the snap, immediately at the snap,” per ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler. Green Bay’s proposal is expected to be “hotly contested” during league meetings in Florida this week and will likely be voted on by team owners Tuesday. This comes shortly after The Athletic’s Dianna Russini indicated some momentum has emerged for banning the play.
There is support for the rule change on the NFL’s competition committee, comprised of 10 coaches and executives. Among them are Rams head coach Sean McVay and Bills head coach Sean McDermott, who had an “animated side conversation” with Eagles executives Howie Roseman and Jon Ferrari on Sunday afternoon, according to Kahler. That was after a football operations meeting produced a “heated” discussion when the proposed language was introduced.
The competition committee is “split” on the tush push ban, per Mark Maske of The Washington Post. The same is true of the league’s 32-team voting body, 24 of whom would need to vote in favor of the ban for it to be implemented.
Resistance from within the committee is likely led by McDermott, whose Bills have adopted the play from the Eagles. Combined, they have run the play more times than the other 30 teams combined over the last three years, leading to accusations that the Packers’ proposal is unfairly targeting the two teams.
Falcons CEO Rich McKay, who chairs the competition committee, acknowledged that belief on Sunday.
“The thing that nobody likes about the discussion we are having…is that the rule is directed towards two teams,” said McKay (via Kahler). “I don’t think any of us like the fact that there are teams associated with this rule proposal.”
The Packers listed player safety and pace of play as the reason for their proposal, though little evidence exists (or can exist) of either claim. Other teams believe that Green Bay wants to ban the play because they can neither replicate it on offense nor stop it on defense.
The play was only run 101 times in 2024, 0.28% of the league’s total plays, according to Kahler, so there is not enough data to support player safety concerns. The same goes for pace of play, though the Commanders’ repeated penalties in January’s NFC championship game could be a blueprint for how teams may approach defending the tush push in the future.
Rather than give up an easy touchdown at the goal line, Washington tried to jump Philadelphia’s snaps, leading to four penalties in the span of six plays. Each flag only advanced the ball half the distance to the end zone, and the Eagles couldn’t score. Eventually, referee Shawn Hochuli stepped in and warned the Commanders that another penalty would result in the officials awarding a touchdown to the Eagles, relying on a little-used rule prohibiting a “palpably unfair act.”
The NFL has a multitude of reasons to want to avoid a recurrence of the Commanders’ strategy. Other teams may try to force referees into the difficult position of uniformly enforcing an obscure rule to award a touchdown to a team that never actually reached the end zone. That would complicate league efforts to keep officiating consistent and take considerable time and excitement out of the game.
There are other arguments to ban the tush push. One is consistency with league rules that prohibit pushing in other situations.
“We don’t allow the linebackers to push the defensive linemen on extra points and we’re just trying to be consistent,” said Stephen Jones, the co-owner of the Cowboys and a member of the competition committee, before offering a counterargument against concerns about targeting the Bills and the Eagles. “These quarterbacks, I’m sure they would be wildly successful whether you’re pushed or not,” continued Jones (via Kahler). “I’m sure [Hurts will] make first downs at a high rate, whether someone’s pushing him or not, because he’s an inordinately strong special athlete.”
While a tush push ban would have a disproportionate effect on the Eagles and the Bills, both teams would still retain the core advantage that makes them so successful: extremely powerful quarterbacks. Kahler also described more general criticism about the tush push for the nature of the play: “Coaches, executives and players have argued it’s not a football play, with some comparing it to a rugby play.”
If the rule is approved, the NFL will then have to figure out how to enforce it. That uncertainty is another reason that teams may hesitate to vote for the Packers’ proposal. The Eagles believe they have some support to stop the rule change given that three of their former assistant coaches were hired as head coaches in the last two years.
“We’ll see how it goes,” said Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. “All I will say about it is (Jonathan) Gannon, (Shane) Steichen and (Kellen) Moore better vote for it. They are in the position right now because of that play. So all three, I better have those three votes right there and the Eagles’ vote. I at least know we have four.”
Based on comments by Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles, Texans GM Nick Caserio, and Ravens HC John Harbaugh, those three teams are unlikely to support the tush push ban either, according to Rob Maaddi of The Associated Press. Bowles and Caserio believe that teams should have to figure out how to stop the play. Harbaugh offered a different take on Stephen Jones’ consistency argument, saying that officiating is already inconsistent in regards to pushing.
If Gannon’s Cardinals, Steichen’s Colts, and Moore’s Saints also vote no, only two more teams would be needed to shoot down the Packers’ proposal. That would preserve the tush push for the 2025 season, though teams could certainly renew efforts to ban it next offseason.
As mentioned, the Dolphins have been among the team’s scouting quarterbacks, with Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reporting that the team has met with, scouted, or “evaluated” Texas’ Quinn Ewers, Louisville’s Tyler Shough, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, and Syracuse’s Kyle McCord. Jackson passes along a prediction from agent Drew Rosenhaus, who recently opined that the Dolphins will end up taking a QB in the draft.
“If you think there’s somebody organizationally that you believe in, at any point, I think you pull the trigger,” Ballard said (via Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star).
