Problems officiating the tush push could be the new argument to support banning it
By ROB MAADDI
AP Pro Football Writer
The Super Bowl rematch turned into bully ball highlighted by the NFL’s ugliest play.
Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles pushed — literally — their way past Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, 20-17, on Sunday.
Hurts scored a touchdown on a tush push and the Eagles used the play seven times to help hand the Chiefs their first three-game losing streak with Mahomes and send them to their first 0-2 start since 2014.
The NFL tried to ban to the tush push following a proposal from the Green Bay Packers in the offseason but fell two votes short of eliminating it.
Those who oppose the play must’ve cringed watching the Eagles use it repeatedly in front of a national television audience.
There’s no doubt many of the decision-makers noticed.
Tom Brady pointed out that two of Philadelphia’s offensive linemen moved early when Hurts was pushed into the end zone for a 20-10 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Replays showed the Eagles got away with a false start.
After Hurts appeared to lose the ball but was ruled down to gain a first down on the play in the final two minutes, Fox rules analyst Dean Blandino said: “I am done with the tush push, guys. It’s a hard play to officiate.”
While there was plenty of scoring and exciting action around the league in Week 2 — the Cowboys beat the Giants 40-37 in overtime in a thrilling, back-and-forth matchup — the tush push became a main topic of conversation during the NFL’s game of the week.
Sure, there was plenty of talk about Kansas City’s early season struggles, Andy Reid’s out-of-sync offense and Travis Kelce not being on the same page with Mahomes. But the game wasn’t pretty and the tush push magnified the ugliness.
Critics argued in the offseason that it’s a dangerous play, but there wasn’t enough injury data to ban it for safety concerns. Most of the disdain was directed at the aesthetics of the play.
“Is it part of what football has been traditionally, or is it more of a rugby play?” NFL Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay said about the discussion.
Those who hate the appearance of the tush push saw it on full display at Arrowhead Stadium.
They’ll have to see it for at least the remainder of the season because it’s not going anywhere. The Eagles (2-0) have mastered it in short-yardage situations and they’ll keep using it until team owners vote to get rid of it, if they ever do.
Blandino’s frustration with the play was echoed by viewers and NFL fans except for anyone who roots for Philly. The new argument against it could center on the difficulty officiating it properly.
“We work our (tails) off on it,” coach Nick Sirianni said. “First of all, it’s all about the guys, right? It’s all about the guys up front, the tight ends, Jalen, the timing of everything. Obviously, won’t get into all the things that we do to prepare for it, but it’s not an easy play to practice, but our guys do a great job of simulating it as much as we possibly can.
“During practice, during walkthroughs, different things like that, creativity by our coaches to find ways to do that. As you can see, teams are going to do everything they can possibly do to stop it. Some of the things, I won’t get into that, either. I won’t give any other teams a clue to what they were doing. We’re prepared for all those things, and the guys are prepared for all those things. I think it always comes down to those guys up front and Jalen had a lot of success with that play. We’ll continue to use it to our advantage.”
If it becomes an unfair advantage because officials can’t catch false starts, the NFL will have to address the problem.
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