While the ‘tush push’ survived a league vote in the offseason to live another day (season), that doesn’t mean the league isn’t keeping a close eye on the controversial play. The team that popularized the tactic, the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, caused the play to be scrutinized even more after their Super Bowl rematch win over the Kansas City Chiefs last week.
The Eagles beat the Chiefs 20-17 in Week 2, and the league says they should have been called for at least one false start while using the tush push, the Washington Post reports.
“Anytime we have this situation we’re in short yardage, we know we want to make sure that we officiate these plays — the offensive team has to be perfect in every aspect,” NFL vice president of officiating training and development Ramon George said in a report that was sent to officials and all 32 teams. “We want to officiate it tight. We want to be black and white and be as tight as we can be when we get into this situation where teams are in the bunch position and we have to officiate them being onsides, movement early. Prior to the snap, looks like we have movement by the right guard. We also have movement coming across from the defensive side. This is a very hard play to officiate. I get it.”
Part of the reason for this intense scrutiny is the Eagles’ effectiveness in executing the play. Since 2022, they’ve converted 96.6% of the time in fourth-and-1 plays situations.
Degenerate Spin: It’s hard to say if this crackdown is going to have an impact on anything gambling-related. First, we’ll have to see if the officials really do start cracking down on it. If so, then the Eagles will be most hurt by it, so they may be a fade going forward.
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