Philadelphia is the only city in sports that could make people angry about one of the oldest plays in football. If you are a football fan, not only is it a guarantee that you know what the tush push is, but it’s pretty likely that you have a strong opinion on it. For those who don’t know, it’s a quarterback sneak that the Eagles have mastered. More importantly, salty NFL fans don’t like it.
The simplest argument for this play that I’ve heard is that it’s an automatic yard, and should outlawed to preserve the quality of the game. If that were the case, every team would run it, and it would be outlawed. The hole in that argument, is that the play doesn’t work for everyone else.
In the first week of the season, teams other than the Eagles went 0-4 on the tush push. Since then, the Eagles have continued to churn out short yard situations using the same play. They are a successful franchise because they consistently invest in the offensive line more than any other position. The Birds are so consistently dominant in the trenches, their version of the play is entirely different than the rest of the league’s. They run the Brotherly Shove.
The arguments against the Brotherly Shove online have become excessively whiny. Analysts around the league are getting emotional as they lay out arguments against it. Few of them mention football rules. Then there are clowns like Barstool’s Steven Cheah who verbally rooted for Jalen Hurts to get injured. It’s pathetic of a grown man to root for a football player to get hurt because his team is simply not as good as him.
The next time someone argues you about the tush push, cut them off in the middle of their sentence and ask why their team doesn’t run it. It’s what I’ve been doing with my Giants’ fan roommate. It’s the perfect way to shelter yourself from incoming stupidity.
