For everyone who was worried that the “Tush Push” was going away, it’s not. Your sleepless nights are over. Everything will be just fine, because the “Tush Push” is staying. At least, for now.
For a while now, there’s been speculation that the quarterback sneak variation, often used by the Eagles, could get banned. But, on Thursday (Feb. 29), NFL executive VP of football operations Troy Vincent said that the NFL won’t be getting rid of the move.
“Don’t punish a team that strategically does it well,” Vincent said on PFT Live.
He also gave props to the Eagles that they’ve created this short-yardage play that has become such a trademark. “Their success rate, just amazing,” Vincent said.
So, why was everyone so worried about the “Tush Push” having its final days? Back in December, a source told The Athletic’s Dianna Russini that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wanted the “tush push” to be banned from the game next season. But, it appears that was just talk.
While the Eagles didn’t have the best 2023 season, the “Tush Push” was a highlight. The Jason Kelce-Jalen Hurts combination was huge for the team during the regular season. What’s more, the Eagles led the NFL with a 71.4 percent conversion rate on fourth-down run plays with two yards or fewer to go, more than 10 percentage points higher than the next best team. No other team was as good at this particular play, or any variation of it, as the Eagles. Last season, five teams, including Philadelphia, were successful in converting fourth-and-short plays at a rate higher than 50 percent.
In other Eagles news, former New York Jets receiver Mecole Hardman is being accused of giving gameplan information to Philadelphia Eagles players – those he knew from the University of Georgia – ahead of their game. Maybe that would explain why it was the first time a Philadelphia Eagles team had ever lost to a Jets team, ever. Leading up to that point, the Eagles were 12-0 against them. The same could be true of the Chiefs.
Connor Hughes of New York Sports Here posted on X (formerly Twitter), “Yes, I’m told there was validated belief from the #Jets that WR Mecole Hardman, frustrated by his lack-of usage, leaked game plans to the opposition, as implied by several players (Sauce Gardner, Kenny Yeboah) today. Not just the #Eagles game, but also the #Chiefs. Ironically, the Eagles victory was arguably the best of the season for the Jets while Zach Wilson enjoyed the best game of his career against the Chiefs.”