Logic prevails: Banning the tush push would have been weak 5v1g43

The tush push lives on. 4170x

Things looked like they were heading in the opposite direction when the NFL, after an informal 16-16 vote in April, tabled discussions on a proposal from the Green Bay Packers to ban the play, planning to circle back in May. The language was revised in an effort to get at least eight more owners on board for the required three-quarters vote share. In the end, 10 teams still didn't see grounds for a rule change.

The dissenters are right.

Proponents of outlawing the Philadelphia Eagles' signature play consistently pointed to player safety as the reason. This would be an entirely different discussion if there was concrete data to that sentiment, but there simply isn't. The NFL's internal numbers show a 0% injury rate on tush push plays, as CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones reported in February. Not a single injury has been attributed to the modified quarterback sneak since Philly first brought it into the mainstream on a regular basis in 2022.

The Eagles ran the play 108 times over the last three seasons, according to ESPN research. There have also been copycats around the league, with the Buffalo Bills leading the pack by running the play 55 times. Injury concerns based on hypotheticals don't hold much weight when that kind of sample size actually exists.

Officially, the proposal also cited pace of play as a consideration. However, the tush push doesn't take up any more time than your average QB sneak, so that must be a response to the Washington Commanders going offside four times in five plays in an attempt to jump a goal-line snap in the NFC title game. A defense desperately flailing because it can't stop an opponent seems like a weird reason to change a rule.

Realistically, the apparent push from the league office could be a sign that the NFL wanted to outlaw what's widely perceived as an automatic play. It's easy enough to understand how the league might consider that a damper on its overall product. But does the play really produce a predetermined outcome if other teams can't manage the same kind of success? That sounds more like a skill issue.

Any offense can easily replicate the mechanism of backfield players pushing the pile after the snap. Many have tried, with middling results. Yet Philly's ed for 27 of the league's 52 tush push touchdowns over the last three seasons, according to ESPN. The Eagles and Bills have an overall conversion rate of 87%, while the rest of the league sits at 71%.

So what's the difference? Probably the fact that the push from the backfield isn't even one of the top three factors driving Philly's dominance on the play.

The sheer power of the NFL's premier offensive line is the biggest key; no other unit is as consistent at creating that kind of movement off the ball. Coaching is also crucial: The innovative design and technique are a credit to Nick Sirianni and legendary offensive line guru Jeff Stoutland.

"I can't tell you how many times we practice the snap, we practice the play," Sirianni said at the combine. "We work really, really hard, and our guys are talented at this play. And so it's a little insulting to say we're good at it so it's automatic. We work really hard at it."

And then there's the added benefit of a powerhouse ball carrier who can squat 600 pounds. Jalen Hurts is a unique quarterback when it comes to leg drive. More often than not, he's getting the line to gain before the push from behind even happens.

All of this to say: The Eagles would dominate short yardage with or without the ability to run the full tush push. Hurts and the offensive line had a 92.9% success rate on traditional QB sneaks in 2021 before introducing the now-polarizing version, according to Jeff Kerr of CBS Sports. And now the Eagles' backfield has Saquon Barkley, the NFL's premier running back, coming off a 2,005-yard season.

The play's survival should be regarded as a big win for logic and - most importantly - competition. With no history of related injuries to back up the apparent safety concerns, the rest of the league coming together to implement a ban would have looked a lot like an attempt to rein in a juggernaut Super Bowl champion.

The NFL has avoided that slippery slope for at least another year. Now teams can go back to the drawing board and take the old-fashioned approach: actually figuring out how to stop an opponent's play. Unlikely as that may be, it's not supposed to be easy.

Dan Wilkins is theScore's senior NFL writer.