If the Philadelphia Eagles really wanted to make everyone mad, they’d try to put together a drive all the way down the field with just tush pushes. And it might work.
We saw a mini version of that Thursday night. Facing a third down at the 3-yard line, the Eagles tried a tush push. When that went nowhere, they tried another and got the first down. Then at the goal line they tried another. And another.
Four straight tush pushes led to a touchdown.
Due to the NFL not voting to eliminate the play last offseason, it was totally legal. And it set off another debate on social media.
The Green Bay Packers proposed banning the tush push last offseason. Their star defensive player, Micah Parsons, had a tweet that came as the Eagles were running the tush push repeatedly. It wasn’t in favor of the play.
Some of that debate is the same old sour grapes. The Eagles execute the play, the quarterback sneak with teammates pushing from the back that anyone can run, better than the other 31 NFL teams. It has become a personal issue with the Eagles feeling targeted because they’re too good at a legal play, and that is accurate.
But this season fans have latched on to a new, and legitimate, gripe. The Eagles are moving before the snap on a lot of their tush push plays.
In particular, many people on social media pointed out that the right guard was moving early on multiple tush pushes in that sequence that led to the touchdown on Thursday night.
It’s easier to officiate that with the benefit of high-definition replays. It’s much harder for an actual official to see a lineman move a split second before the snap. But, it is illegal movement, no matter how slight the head start is.
That will be a part of the never-ending debate about the tush push. Using it four straight times for a touchdown was effective for the Eagles. But it’s not helping the argument against the play go away.