The Philadelphia Eagles have perfected the “tush push” in short-yardage situations and the rest of the NFL will have to continue to try and figure out how to stop them.
Appearing on Pro Football Talk Live on Thursday, NFL Executive V.P. of Football Operations Troy Vincent pushed back against any outcry to ban the play.
“Don’t punish a team that strategically does it well,” Vincent said.
Vincent added that the “tush push” — or “The Brotherly Shove” if you’re from Philadelphia — was not on the agenda for the NFL Competition Committee this week as he felt there was not an appetite for discussion. The topic will come up, however, during the NFL league meetings on March 24-27 if any team would like to express an opinion.
There was a discussion when the Competition Committee met during the regular season, Vincent said, but more teams besides the Eagles had begun attempting the “tush push” and the number of injuries was low enough to not require extensive deliberation on the play’s future.
It’s a play that, as Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said in October, is beneficial to an offense that can execute it successfully, like they have been able to do.
“Every first down, it’s first-and-9,” Sirianni said. “Knowing that if you get to fourth-and-1, shoot, a lot of faith in that play. You’ve seen it across the league that people can’t do it like we can do it. They can’t do it like we can do it.”
“I’m making my plug right there. Like don’t ban this play. Like if everyone could do it, everybody would. If everybody could do it, everybody would do it.”
According to the Sporting News’ Jacob Camenker, the Eagles had a 92.5% success rate when calling the “tush push,” converting 37 of 40 opportunities during the 2023 regular season.
