The Dallas Cowboys‘ defense received a much-needed boost with the addition of defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and the return of key players from injuries. Now, with these upgrades, the Cowboys even feel confident in their ability to counter one of the NFL’s most infamous plays, the tush push. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer trusts his team to the fullest.

While speaking to the media, Brian Schottenheimer addressed the fact that the Philadelphia Eagles popularized the play, but he believes his team, the Dallas Cowboys, now has the talent and firepower to stop it.

“We’ve got some reinforcements in there and guys that have seen it, and it’s a game of leverage. It really is,” he said when asked about Williams, defensive tackles Osa Odighizuwa and Kenny Clark. “And I do think that the league is trying to make sure that it’s a legal play, in terms of everybody getting off on the snap and stuff like that. But they’re still really good at it. We’ll still see it, but we’ve definitely got some reinforcements in there that give you a chance to win the leverage game,” Brian Schottenheimer said.

This controversial play, which has been the Eagles’ go-to move over the last three years, needs no introduction. And one of the most important reasons that the Eagles excel at the play is their quarterback, Jalen Hurts’ impressive lower-body strength, which allows him to drive into the end zone with force. Now, the Cowboys have assembled the right pieces along the interior of their defense to challenge Hurts and stop him from forcing ahead.

“It’s a cool play that the Eagles do, on second-and-short or third-and-short or fourth-and-short,” Williams said about the play. “I never been against it. We have a great plan. I know we got a good game plan to be able to stop it and things like that.”

Apart from Williams, the team also has defensive tackles Perrion Winfrey and Jay Toia. This will be huge since, as per Sumer Sports, the Cowboys have yet to break down the tush push. The Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, is one of the many who have predicted that the tush push might face a ban soon.

“Only my opinion, but I think yes, it will be,” he said in a recent interview.

Now, whether the play gets banned or not, there’s a chance the owner to finally see his team effectively counter the play, or at least make a stronger attempt to stop it. In the past, the Cowboys have failed even to make a tush push. But as of now and this season, the tush push will continue to be a part of the game. However, there are questions about whether the play will be legal after this season.

The battle over Tush Push is not yet over

Last offseason, the Green Bay Packers reportedly were in favor of banning the tush push. And the proposal did require 24 votes for it to pass. However, it fell short of 2 votes.

As per sources, the league had even considered banning the tush push for health reasons, but the play itself posed no real safety concerns. Recently, criticism has grown over the NFL’s handling of the play, particularly after some obvious officiating mistakes, such as missed false starts. While the league has called for tighter officiating, NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent has openly acknowledged the challenges in properly officiating the play.

“It’s very difficult to officiate in real time,” Vincent said.

“What we’re seeing is that line judge, sometimes on a replay, we see the guard jump or move. It’s hard when the guard was in the neutral zone or someone else was in the neutral zone. Really hard for the line judge to identify that based on where he’s at looking down the line of scrimmage.”

Whether due to difficulties in officiating or other issues, the Eagles have continued to execute the play effectively, and it will continue to be used this season.