For the Green Bay Packers, stopping the Super Bowl LIX winner Philadelphia Eagles, in week 10, means stopping one play: the Tush Push. All eyes are on head coach Matt LaFleur’s game plan, specifically how he’ll counter the infamous Tush Push. Before that, his star safety has a surprising—and hilarious—plan of his own.

“During the Tush Push, I’m going to be in the back. And I’ll be patrolling the backend just in case something does pop up,” he said on Friday, November 7. “No, no, no, that ain’t for me. I’m gonna leave it out to the big fellas.”

The Philadelphia Eagles have turned the play into one of the most unstoppable weapons in football. Between 2022 and the second week of this season, they have converted this play nearly 97% of the time on fourth-and-1. This season, over 8 games, the Eagles have used the tush push 21 times, with a 76.5% success rate, slightly down from their 82.1% last season, 83.3% in 2023, and 92.6% in 2022.

The defenses are usually caught helpless when the Eagles’ O-line stands together. It also forces the rivals to anticipate and make early movements, which often results in flags. Last year, during the NFC Championship game against the Washington Commanders, they forced the linebacker Frankie Luvu to make multiple false starts. In the end, the referees had to penalize and warn him, or else they might have taken some hard action.

Matt LaFleur’s safety also pointed to this. He revealed that the Birds used the fake play on them last year as well.

“Cause last year, they actually tried. They did like a little fake, then one popped up by the ground, so that’s why I am back there for that,” he added.

Now, it depends on their defensive tackle to stop the Eagles from scoring. The coach knows what to expect and is ready.

Matt LaFleur is ready for the tush push

Earlier this year, the Packers, led by their former president Mark Murphy, asked the NFL to ban the tush push, saying it’s not safe. Both LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst agreed. But when NFL owners voted, the plan failed by two votes. The final result was 22–10, short of the 24 votes needed to pass.

The Eagles even brought former center Jason Kelce to the meeting to explain why the play is fair. After the vote, the team posted a photo of Jalen Hurts about to run a tush push against the Packers with the caption, “Push on.” When asked about the play before the week 10 MNF game, Matt LaFleur kept his answer simple.

“I’m not going to get into it,” LaFleur said on November 6. “It is what it is. The NFL made a decision, and we have to find a way to try to stop the play, and it’s a tough play to stop.”

LaFleur said the only real way to defend it is to keep the Eagles out of short-yard situations.

“You can’t allow them in those short-yardage situations because you know exactly what they’re going to do.”

They know these details because they have also used them with Jordan Love. Back in 2023, the Packers converted four of five plays. However, they didn’t want to put their QB in danger and haven’t used it since then.

“Every team’s built a little bit differently,” the coach added. “And for me, it’s always, do you want your quarterback subjected to some of those hits that he could potentially face in those situations?”

The tush push is still legal, and unless the NFL votes again next year, it will stay that way. The Packers’ defense will have to figure out how to stop them.