NFL Should Not Ban the Tush Push
Coaches Must Find A Way To Stop It Instead of Asking the NFL To Ban It
The annual spring meetings for the NFL GMs have wrapped up down in Florida, and one of the major topics of conversation is banning the “Tush Push.”
We have seen the Philadelphia Eagles use this rugby play to perfection, especially on Fourth Down, to extend plays or score touchdowns. Usually, Quarterback Jalen Hurts leads the charge. But the Tush Push is similar to a quarterback sneak.
But the NFL coaches don’t want to get rid of that play. So why do they want to stop this play? Because the coaches opposed to the Tush Push can’t stop it, even though they know it is coming.
The Green Bay Packers proposed the rule change and the ban. According to ESPN, it garnered support from 16 NFL teams. However, according to the NFL bylaws, a change would require a minimum of 24 votes to approve. The topic has been tabled for the spring meetings after the draft.
The Packers proposed to target the play by prohibiting an offensive player from immediately pushing a teammate who is lined up directly behind the snapper and receives the snap. Remember, we saw Reggie Bush get pushed by Matt Leinart in 2005 against USC to keep an undefeated season going.
Then it was labeled the Bush Push, and college football coaches figured out a way to stop it. So why can’t the onus be on NFL coaches to stop the Tush Push?
There is no evidence that any of the players involved are at risk of injury. In fact, the NFL's health and safety department had no data suggesting a single injury had occurred as a result of the Eagles or any other team using it.
So we can remove player safety from the mix. This is more about NFL coaches wanting to dumb down the game, as Tom Brady told Stephen A. Smith back in the summer on his podcast at Fanatics Fest.
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Brady was speaking on rookie quarterbacks and the time it should take them to develop through college and in the NFL, and why they are struggling and going in right away, but the same thing can be applied to head coaches.
The reality is the only reason why [rookies] are [playing right away] is because we dumbed the game down, which has allowed them to play," he explained. "It used to be thought of at a higher level. We used to spend hours and hours in the offseason, in training camp trying to be a little bit better the next year. But I think what happens is it discourages the coaches from going to deep levels because they realize the players don’t have the opportunity to go to a deep level. So, they’re going to teach them where they’re at.
Today's coaches only have to reach a certain level, which is what made some of these legendary coaches so good. From Don Shula to Bill Cowher to Tom Landry to Nick Saban to Bill Parcells to Jimmy Johnson to Bill Belichick to Andy Reid, these guys thought the game was on a different level.
Belichick would have found a way to stop it. Look what he did as the New York Giants defensive coordinator in Super Bowl XXV against the Buffalo Bills. He was able to stop the Bills' K-Gun offense, limiting the way Jim Kelly threw the ball. Thurman Thoms had 100 yards of rushing in a loss. But he found a way to stop an unstoppable offense.
The Eagles have scored 27 touchdowns and recorded 92 first downs with the play over the past three years. Last year, they scored 11 touchdowns and recorded 32 first downs on their way to the Super Bowl.
Philadelphia isn’t the only one who runs it. The Buffalo Bills ran it too. That’s the key right there; more teams should use it or figure out a way to stop. Last season, out of the 101 tush pushes called, the Bills and Eagles combined for 65 of them.
But the Eagles are successful at something that makes them unique. Go figure out a way to stop it instead of banning it. That is like participation trophies, and it means the NFL coach is not good at his job. Remember, the defense can push back too. They just can’t hurdle. But that is limited to field goals and extra points.
If you look at other sports, say the NHL, do you think they banned the neutral zone trap? No way. Teams found a way to break it, and more teams found a way to use it in the modern era of the game.
Sticking with the NHL, over the last several years, some people have cried about getting rid of LTIR (long-term injury reserve). This allows teams to spend over the salary cap in the regular season with a player lost for the season, and his salary does not count against the cap.
There is nothing in the CBA that says it is illegal. Teams have pushed the ethics line on it. The Vegas Golden Knights with Mark Stone, the Chicago Blackhawks with Patrick Kane, and most famously, Nikita Kucherov with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Kucherov looked like a million bucks in Game 1 of the 2021 playoffs.
But there was an outcry because they were over the cap and those teams won the Stanley Cup. If you look back, most of the playoff teams were operating in LTIR. The Lightning were $21 million over the cap, but it is not against the rules.
Fans should be asking why their GM did not figure out a way to use LTIR to their advantage. Why does our team not have a staff member who knows the ins and outs of the CBA? The NHL did not ban it; they extended it to the CBA.
Similar to the NFL and the Tush Push, fans should ask why our team isn’t figuring out a way to use it. Or why can’t our coach figure out a way to stop it?
It is an exciting play, and we are seeing more things from other sports enter the NFL, which makes the game better, unlike some of the rules changes coming. More on that in another article.
But the NFL should not dumb down the game. Instead, the NFL should make the coaches earn the money and show that they can stop something, not ban it.