When it comes to the Tush Push, Jalen Hurts isn’t the only one getting a nudge this week.
In its weekly officiating video, the NFL reminded its officials that players need to be aligned legally before the snap on the so-called Tush Push, as well as any other quarterback sneak variant, sources tell CBS Sports.
The “shove” comes a week after the Eagles used its patented — and controversial – play six times against the Chiefs, including on the game-sealing touchdown in the Week 2 victory that saw two Eagles offensive linemen move early before the snap.
The video points out both offensive offside and false starts on the play, according to sources. Officials are being — and have been — instructed to ensure the offensive linemen are not lining up in the neutral zone, something that can happen frequently in a bunch play.
When players are lined up as closely as they are on this play, false starts are more difficult to officiate without the benefit of camera zooms and slow-motion. If the false start is clear and obvious, it should be called, sources say. But the officiating world accepts the enhanced level of difficulty involved there.
Former Eagles center Jason Kelce seems to have anticipated this in his latest podcast episode this week.
“They’re going to be under a microscope moving forward. Everybody is going to be looking at this because of what happened,” Kelce said this week. “They’re saying they’re in the neutral zone, they’re saying they’re false starting because they slow it down to 1,000 frames per second.
“They need to be very, very cautious because the calls are going to be starting to come, and they should be.”
Of course, the Eagles are not the only team that runs some version of the push sneak. CBS Sports Research reveals at least eight teams have attempted the play through two weeks this NFL season, though Philadelphia is the only team with more than three attempts.
Officials have already thrown a flag for the sneak play this season, but it did not involve the Eagles. In Week 1’s game between the Saints and Cardinals, New Orleans was flagged for offensive offside when left guard Dillon Radunz lined up in the neutral zone on a third-and-1 from the Arizona 46-yard line for what would have been a Spencer Rattler conversion.
So the league and its officials have had a close watch on the play since the start of the season across teams, and officiating points were re-emphasized heading into Week 3.
The play came under heavy scrutiny in the offseason after the Green Bay Packers proposed a rule change that would effectively ban the play. League officials warned that, though the small sample size showed a zero percent injury rate on the play, the potential for serious injury could be enough to eradicate the play from the game.
After being tabled for further revision, the proposal was ultimately defeated when it fell two votes shy of the necessary two-thirds vote. That came after an impassioned defense by the Eagles, led by Kelce and team owner Jeffrey Lurie, at the league meetings in May.
The biggest arguments against the play seem to be the potential injury risk, the difficulty in officiating it and the look of it. For better or worse, right or wrong, many around football do not find the play to be visually appealing.
The Eagles argue the absence of injury in the data show it is no more a dangerous play than any other scrimmage play. The team feels as though they have been singled out because they run it effectively and better than anyone else, on top of being the defending world champions. If you don’t like it, the saying goes, then stop it.
The Eagles host the Rams on Sunday in a meeting of two undefeated NFC teams. Philadelphia attempted the Tush Push just once in the snowy divisional matchup between the teams last year that wound up being flagged for a false start, and the Eagles went 1-for-2 on the play in their Week 12 meeting in Los Angeles.
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