The Eagles’ tush push has been nearly impossible to stop, but the Chiefs believe they have a solution

In Philadelphia, there are two words that have become both beloved — by Eagles fans — and hated — by the rest of the NFL: “tush push.”

No other team has made the rugby-style scrum work as well as the Eagles, coached by Nick Sirianni and led by quarterback Jalen Hurts. The play became so hard to stop that the NFL even considered banning it.

Sirianni often says that for the Eagles, every first down feels like first-and-9.

The Eagles showed just how effective the tush push can be in the NFC championship game against Washington. The Commanders jumped offside four times in five plays while trying to stop the tush push, and they were warned that if they did it again, the Eagles would be awarded a touchdown.

It may sound unbelievable, but it’s written in the league’s rulebook. According to Rule 12, Section 3, Article 2, “The defense shall not commit successive or repeated fouls to prevent a score.” The rule also states, “if the violation is repeated after a warning, the score involved is awarded to the offensive team.”

As expected, Hurts scored a touchdown.

“It’s a great concept, great play, hard to stop,” said Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner. “If I was them, I would run it, too.”

And the Eagles do — often. According to Next Gen Stats, they succeeded in 28 of 34 tush push attempts this season. Hurts converted 35 of 43 attempts on third- or fourth-and-1 situations and other runs from the 1-yard line.

The surprising part is that even though teams know the tush push is coming, and fans at Lincoln Financial Field go wild when the Eagles line up for it, defenses still can’t stop it.

But the Kansas City Chiefs might have figured out a way to stop it. In the AFC title game, the Buffalo Bills tried a version of the tush push but converted only twice in six attempts. The Chiefs stopped them by using big defensive players inside and having linebackers charge downhill.

“I think they played it well,” said Bills quarterback Josh Allen after the game.

Will the Chiefs be able to stop the Eagles in the Super Bowl?

The Eagles lost to Kansas City 38-35 in the Super Bowl two years ago, but the tush push wasn’t the reason. Hurts scored two touchdowns on the play in that game, threw for 304 yards, and accounted for four total touchdowns. He later used the play to score the game-winning touchdown in the 2023 season against the Chiefs.

Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who is known for his complex defensive strategies and heavy use of blitzes, has had two weeks to come up with a plan to stop Hurts.

“I think the Eagles have perfected this thing over however many years it’s been and that offensive line, I think they’re built for it,” Spagnuolo said. “They’re that big and physical and they’ve really perfected the way they do it. I think it’s really tough to stop.”

Teams that can’t stop the play have started complaining about it. Green Bay Packers president Mark Murphy, after his team was eliminated by the Eagles, wrote that the tush push is “bad for the game.”

“There is no skill involved and it is almost an automatic first down on plays of a yard or less,” Murphy wrote. “The series of plays with the Commanders jumping offsides in the NFC Championship Game to try to stop the play was ridiculous. … I would like to see the league prohibit pushing or aiding the run.”

Should the tush push be banned?

Sirianni isn’t worried about the critics.

“The success that we have is not always replicated around the entire league,” Sirianni said. “We saw it last week with the game plan we’re studying with Kansas City against Buffalo. They stopped them in a critical situation. I guess I’m lobbying to never change that rule because we’re successful at it. We’re successful at it because of the guys we have up front.”

The Eagles were nearly perfect with the tush push this season, even after Cam Jurgens replaced the retired Jason Kelce at center. Hurts, who can squat the weight of about three Saquon Barkleys, and a strong offensive line with Pro Bowl players like Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson make it hard to stop.

Whether it’s controversial or not, the Eagles might be able to use the tush push to help win the Super Bowl.