Despite a loss in the big game against San Francisco, the Philadelphia Eagles remain the most successful team this NFL season. This is mainly due to a special move that no opponent has been able to really stop so far. But apparently the NFL boss wants to ban exactly this move in the summer
Everyone knows exactly what’s coming. If star player Jalen Hurts and his Offensive line get into position to set up their most successful play, every defense in the NFL is warned. But they usually can’t stop the Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback.
Because if the currently best Offensive line of the league together, almost crawling, pushing forward and following Hurts with the ball in his hands, pushed from behind by other teammates, then the result is almost always the same. Gaining space for the Eagles.
In the big game on Sunday against San Francisco, the Eagles also used their best move several times without the 49ers being able to stop it despite massive resistance. Still, Philadelphia lost in the end. For the title candidate from Pennsylvania, it was only the second defeat in the twelfth game of the season.
The move in which Jalen Hurts digs his way forward in the fray and allows himself to be pressed has long since received two nicknames. “Tush push“, referring to the fact that the quarterback receives a good push from behind from teammates. But in Philadelphia itself, the city of brotherly love, they talk about “Brotherly Shove“. The brotherly push.
Jalen Hurts during the game against the 49ers
Soon to be banned?
But no matter whether you “Tush push” or “Brotherly Shove” calls. The move that is currently making the Eagles so strong could soon be banned. The powerful league boss Roger Goodell is apparently aiming for a rule change in the summer. The American sports journalist Diana Russini from “The Athletic” released a report that Goodell “Tush push“want to ban permanently.
Russini didn’t write anything about Goodell’s motives, but the NFL boss has repeatedly hinted between the lines in the past that he “Brotherly Shove” do not like. The pushing and shoving apparently reminds him more of rugby and is less suitable for his glossy product, American football.
Spectacular throws into the end zone are easier to market than a group of heavy men collapsing into one another and merging into a human heap. Those familiar with the scene expect that Goodell could justify his desire for a rule change in the summer with concerns about the risk of injury.
But so far the “Tush push” is not known as a source of injuries. NFL boss Roger Goodell cannot ban the rule himself either. This is done in a special committee that, ironically, does not include a representative of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Roger Goodell at the Eagles game against the 49ers
A representative from each of the Dallas Cowboys, the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins sits on this committee. Each of these three teams plays in the same division as the Eagles, the NFC East. So it’s quite possible that Philadelphia’s direct competitors will have a say in the summer as to whether the Eagles lose their almost unbeatable offensive weapon.
Eagles fight for their weapon
Unsurprisingly, Philadelphia head coach Nick Sirianni doesn’t think much of abolishing the “Brotherly Shove“: “Don’t forbid this move“he demanded.”If everyone could play it as well as we do, everyone would play like that.“But that’s exactly not the case.
The Eagles’ offense is ideally suited to the “Tush push” The center Jason Kelce is considered the league’s best at his position, and the same goes for his muscle-bound teammates like Landon Dickerson, Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata.
The secret of success is not that complicated: Unlike normal plays, the offensive line leaves no gaps when setting up to “Brotherly Shove“. Instead, the players position themselves like a battering ram incarnate, feet overlapping each other, the front line almost sinking to the ground, pushing forward with their massive thigh muscles and creating space for quarterback Hurts. The Eagles’ success rate to a new one Getting the first try or a touchdown is with the “Tush push” This season at around 90 percent, the statistics show.
To earn a new first attempt, NFL teams must gain ten yards of space. “For us it’s first try and nine yards“Sirianni said recently. Knowing full well that in situations where opponents punt the ball to the opponent, the Eagles thanks to the “Tush push“Stay in possession of the ball – an invaluable advantage in American football.
An advantage that the Eagles want to make the most of in the coming weeks. A rule change in the current season is impossible. And with the “Brotherly Shove” as an option, the Eagles are among the top favorites to win the Super Bowl in February.