No team has taken advantage of the rugby-style scrum β deemed so unstoppable that the NFL had flirted with the idea of banning the play β quite like the Eagles under coach Nick Sirianni and QB Jalen Hurts. No example summed up how much the tush push can be a pain in the butt to the opposition quite like when the Eagles used it to maddening perfection against Washington in the NFC championship game.
The Commanders jumped offside four times in a sequence of five plays while trying to stop the tush push β earning them a warning from the referee that he could award the Eagles a touchdown if the Commanders did it again.
Oh, they do, on repeat: The Eagles were successful on 28 of 34 tush push attempts this season, according to Next Gen Stats. Overall, Hurts converted 35 of 43 attempts this year on third- or fourth-and-1 from anywhere on field, plus any other runs from the 1-yard line. The Chiefs, who have mastered the art of everything from the improbable comeback win to defying the odds and the injuries that seem insurmountable en route to a third straight Super Bowl, might have unlocked the cheat code on stopping the tush push.
In the AFC title game, the Buffalo Bills converted only twice on six attempts with their tweaked version of the tush push. While the Eagles like to bunch together and push Hurts forward, the Bills and QB Josh Allen tend to lean left in their first-down attempts. Hurts scored two touchdowns on the play against the Chiefs in the Super Bowl β and threw for yards and accounted for four total TDs β and then used the play against the Chiefs in the season to score the winning touchdown.
Stopped them in a critical situation. The Eagles played to near push-perfection this season even after Cam Jurgens replaced the retired Jason Kelce at center.
