The Green Bay Packers outed themselves as the team that proposed banning the "tush push" on Tuesday, upsetting Nick Sirianni when he arrived in Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine.
The Philadelphia Eagles head coach disputed some of the narratives that the play is too easy for his team when he met with reporters, calling it "unfair" to ban the "tush push" because of the success they've had from the play.
"I almost feel a little insulted because we work so hard at that play," Sirianni said of the "tush push" detractors. "The amount of things that we've looked into to coach that play. It comes down to how you teach the fundamentals and how the players go through and do the fundamentals.
"It's not an easy play to practice. The fact that it's an automatic, we work really, really hard at it and our guys are talented at this play. It's a little insulting to say just because we're good at it, so it's automatic. We work really hard at it."
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Jalen Hurts and the Eagles have found success with the play since they began using it on a frequent basis in the 2022 season. The "tush push" hasn't been as automatic for them as time has gone on, though, especially following longtime center Jason Kelce's retirement in 2024.
After converting on 93% of their "tush push" plays in 2022, that number dropped to 83% in 2023, according to ESPN, and to 81.3% in 2024, postseason included, per CBS Sports.
Still, the Eagles have used the play to their benefit more often than not. Their first touchdown in their victory in Super Bowl LIX was off the "tush push," giving Hurts his 19th total rushing touchdown of the season.
As the Kansas City Chiefs weren't able to stop the "tush push" on that play, Sirianni recalled how they were able to prevent Josh Allen from getting a first down in a pivotal moment when the Bills employed the "tush push" in the AFC Championship Game.
"You see it throughout the league. You see it in the championship games. A team failed at it and lost the game because of it," Sirianni said. "I watch every first-and-goal red zone fail — every single time. Teams are not able to get in because they are not able to do that.
"The fact that it's a successful play for the Eagles and they want to take that away is a little unfair."
The Packers were one of the many teams that have struggled to stop the Eagles' signature play. Philadelphia used it to pick up a key first down on a fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter of its playoff victory over Green Bay.
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst acknowledged as much, but he also admitted that they didn't have many other reasons outside for why the team proposed to ban it.
"We're not very successful against it, I know that, but to be honest with you, I haven't put much thought into it," Gutekunst said on Tuesday. "It's been around for a while, we've used it in different fashions with our tight end, so again, I think there will be a lot of discussions about it.
"I've got to look at some of the information as far as injury rates, things like that, to see. But we'll see."
Gutekunst isn't alone in thinking that the "tush push" should be outlawed.
"It should've been illegal three years ago," Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris joked. "Nah, the ‘tush push' play, I've never been a big fan. There's just no other play in our game where you can absolutely push them, pull 'em off or do anything [like that]."
Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles, though, defended the Eagles' right to use the play.
"When a team gets something that they're good at it, you've got to learn how to stop it," Bowles told reporters on Tuesday. "I don't think the first thing you can do is try to take it out of the ball game. … You've got to learn how to stop it."
Bowles' comment is notable as he's a member of the eight-person competition committee, which will determine if a ban on the "tush push" will move forward to a vote at the annual league meeting in late March. If it does, at least 24 teams will have to approve of the change.
In the chance that the proposal reaches that stage, Sirianni wants those teams to consider that the play wasn't even a certainty for themselves.
"The guys work hard at it," Sirianni said. "It wasn't 100% for us this year. Just because it was a successful play for us doesn't mean it should go away."
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