Reports: NFL Likely To Outlaw “Tush Push” Quarterback Sneak

The Tush Push play, which was so successful for Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles this season, is anticipated to be closely examined by the league’s competition committee.

Reports: NFL Likely To Outlaw “Tush Push” Quarterback Sneak

In Sunday’s 38-35 Super Bowl LVII loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Hurts tallied 10 running first downs. There arrived six of them on quarterback sneaks. The Eagles set up two or three guys behind Hurts on each of them, and as the ball was snapped, they pushed Hurts forward. Hurts successfully completed 36 out of 40 quarterback sneaks this year.

When a quarterback is about to sneak the ball, he will have one or two teammates position up either behind him or to the side of him. This is known as the “tush push.” Upon the snap of the ball, the players surround the quarterback and force him over the first down marker.

It has been acceptable to push a ball carrier to assist him in moving forward in the NFL since 2005 and in college football since 2013. Amazingly, the Eagles were the first team to use it as a weapon. The league is unimpressed after taking a season-long look at it.

“I think the league is going to look at this, and I’d be shocked if they don’t make a change,’’ said Dean Blandino, a rules analyst for Fox Sports and The 33rd Team, who was the NFL’s vice president of officiating from 2013 to 2017.

The NFL competition committee will meet twice this month: once before the NFL owners meeting in Phoenix in late March and once before the league scouting combine in Indianapolis in two weeks. They will discuss the Tush Push. The owners in Arizona would vote on any proposals made by the committee for rule changes.

“I was talking to (Denver Broncos coach) Sean Payton during Sunday’s game, and he said we’re going to do this every time next season if they don’t take it out,’’ Blandino said.

“It amounts to a rugby scrum. The NFL wants to showcase the athleticism and skill of our athletes. This is just not a skillful play. This is just a tactic that is not an aesthetically pleasing play, and I think the competition committee is going to take a look at it.’’

The competition committee has three options with respect to the Tush Push: 1) recommend no change, which, given the considerable negative sentiment around the league to what the Eagles did this season, isn’t likely; 2) recommend the total outlawing of pushing the ball carrier; and 3) recommend just getting rid of it on sneaks.

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