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PHILADELPHIA, PA – SEPTEMBER 14: Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts 1 scores on a tush push play during the game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Philadelphia Eagles on September 14, 2023, at Lincoln Financial Field, in Philadelphia, PA. Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire NFL, American Football Herren, USA SEP 14 Vikings at Eagles EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon230914005
Imago
PHILADELPHIA, PA – SEPTEMBER 14: Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts 1 scores on a tush push play during the game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Philadelphia Eagles on September 14, 2023, at Lincoln Financial Field, in Philadelphia, PA. Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire NFL, American Football Herren, USA SEP 14 Vikings at Eagles EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon230914005
Essentials Inside The Story
- Tush push returns in conversations this offseason after the Eagles and the Bills top the league again
- The Athletic’s player poll shows 83.8 percent opposed banning the play as they adapt the tactic
- The defenses have also accepted tush push, learning to stop it with new strategies
Tush Push, the ol’ short-yardage tactic, attracted enough vitriol before last season. The Green Bay Packers even proposed to ban the play. While only 16 of 24 approved the proposal, putting the debate on the table, it rose from its ashes again. However, Competition Committee co-chairman Rich McKay has asked not to hold breath.
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“There’s no team proposal that I’ve seen from it,” McKay said Sunday at the NFL Combine meeting. “So, I wouldn’t envision it. But you never know.”
Last offseason, the tactic created enough ruckus. But the play infuriated many defenses in 2025 as well. The most recent example of this play was in the wild-card game between the Buffalo Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
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The Bills were in desperate need of a score as the final minute wound down on the clock, and the Jaguars led 24-20. On a 4th-&-inches, quarterback Josh Allen caught the ball as his teammates pushed him forward. He gained ten yards before he was stopped.
To make matters worse for the Jaguars, who had been unable to stop Allen’s offense, the referees ruled the play a touchdown, handing the win to the visitors.
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While the Bills were one of the top leaders in the league with 17 of 112 total tush push attempts observed, the Philadelphia Eagles topped with 27. The latter has mastered the tactic over the years, adapting according to how the defenses have responded to it. Their dominance on the play was on full display early this season as they toppled their Super Bowl LIX opponents in a 20-17 win at Arrowhead Stadium.
It wasn’t the only reason why the Kansas City Chiefs lost that game. However, the referees missing a false start here drew plenty of attention. But when it comes to banning the play, it seems like the lady luck was not on the Packers’ side even this season.
“We’re just discussing it lightly, not a lot. It’s a very difficult play to officiate from the line judges,” NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent acknowledged during a Super Bowl week news conference. “There was a lot of discussion about it. We’ve been upfront about how difficult it is to officiate, and we just want to be consistent.”
Last offseason, apart from mentioning the difficulty in ruling the play, the Packers claimed that it was dangerous to the players involved.
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Last year, Vincent was on record saying there were zero injuries on the play in 2024. If there ever is, the NFL typically moves quickly. But it was not strong enough to drive formal action. In fact, The Athletic’s player poll shows 83.8 percent opposed banning the play.
Meanwhile, the debate did not find any legs in front of the team owners. By rule, after a team proposes a rule change, at least 24 team owners are required to approve it. When the Packers filed it, they only received 16 votes.
This offseason, none of the 32 NFL clubs has reignited the debate, and the NFL has not revisited the issue, seeing no urgency on the topic. And there’s a reason why.
NFL defenses adapt to tush push as offenses gain more control over it
Rather than waiting for a league-wide ban, defenses have taken matters into their own hands, learning that the best way to stop the tush push is to adapt and counter it directly.
This November, the Eagles’ quarterback Jalen Hurts admitted that it was “becoming tougher and tougher” to succeed in a tush push. Of course, he had just fumbled the ball against one of the top defenses in the league, the Chicago Bears. It was no coincidence.
In 2024, there were 101 tush push attempts in the league. Last season, it increased to 112. While most teams still don’t utilize their precious quarterbacks in the physically demanding play, they’ve experimented with other players, like tight ends. The Pittsburgh Steelers, who had the 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers under center, and the Seattle Seahawks, with quarterback Sam Darnold, come to mind.
Defenses have evolved, with coordinators designing new schemes that involve collapsing the edges to disrupt the formation, sending extra players to attack the pushers, or even trying to strip the ball directly from the quarterback’s hands before the push begins.
The Detroit Lions heavily succeeded in the last application by being aggressive with their defense.
Moreover, most teams going against a quarterback known for their two-way threat prepare for a tush push possibility now. We can see how the Eagles and the Bills are succeeding in the play. In fact, tush push has become almost automatic in third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 situations, where running the ball could usually mean the end of the run.
With Packers president Mark Murphy now retired, someone else would have to carry that torch. But for now, though, all 32 teams appear content to let the tush push stand. Meanwhile, the league also announced how the rulebook could be altered.
The NFL is not expecting major rule changes in the next season
In 2025, the league’s rulebook saw many rules added to improve players’ safety. However, it is anticipated that many changes might not occur this time around. Over the next few days, the NFL Competition Committee will gather to go over possible rule changes for the 2026 season and beyond.
Rich McKay, who chairs the committee, told NFL Network’s Judy Battista that this offseason likely will not bring a flood of new proposals.
“The game is in a good place,” McKay said.
Meanwhile, Battista shared that Sunday’s agenda covered several key topics. These included: aiding the runner (not just Tush Push), catch/no catch, special teams, disqualifications, and health and safety matters. The committee will be briefed on team rule proposals.
As for the always-heated catch-versus-no-catch debate, Battista explained the focus centered on modern replay. The committee wants the rulebook to match how plays appear in real time and how they look when officials slow them down frame by frame. The issue became a point of conversation in the playoffs.
During the Bills’ divisional loss against the Denver Broncos, one of the late catches that could have pushed Buffalo further into their Super Bowl LX campaign ended up in controversy.
The incident occurred with 7:55 remaining in overtime, with the game still tied at 30-30. As Allen threw a long pass from Buffalo’s 36-yard line towards the wide receiver Brandin Cooks, the ball was intercepted by Broncos cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian.
While the Bills debated that Cooks had possession of the ball, the final ruling stood as an interception, and the Bills were more or less out of the playoffs with that.
Finally, the replay review will return to the table on Monday. Battista noted discussion around the potential use of replay to put a flag on the field that game officials did not originally call.
The NFL is constantly looking for ways to improve the product, but for now, major rule overhauls do not appear imminent, nor a ban on tush push.
Written by
Edited by
Bhwya Sriya