End of the Tush Push? Eagles’ play no longer a sure thing

LANDOVER, MD – A second straight NFC East crown in hand, the Philadelphia Eagles’ playoff prospects are decidedly alive and well. As for their signature play? One of Philly’s stars fears it’s on life support.

The “Tush Push” – the nickname of the rugby-style play Philly has used with regularity in short-yardage and goal-line situations since the 2022 season – is suddenly no longer near-automatic. During Saturday night’s 29-18 defeat of the Washington Commanders, it actually skewed negative.

The Eagles not only failed to convert multiple times with the push play – including from the Washington 1-yard line on first-and-goal late in the third quarter – they were flagged for a false start on a sequence that’s become infamous for officials’ inability to consistently legislate it.

“I think, just the history that we have with that play – pretty successful – you lean on that play, you expect us to convert. One-yard line, just didn’t do it,” said Philadelphia left tackle Jordan Mailata, a second-team All-Pro in 2024. “Sometimes, that’s just how it goes.

“Teams this year have done a great job of stopping that play, and so we’ve got to do a better job at executing it and go from there.”

Not only have the Eagles been less effective while running it situationally, Mailata said officials, who have had a hard time identifying false starts when Philly linemen get a pre-snap jump, have been more watchful. Last week against the Las Vegas Raiders, Mailata said he and his teammates were told they had to keep their shoulders parallel to the line of scrimmage and couldn’t angle towards the ball before the play.

That could also foreshadow yet another attempt to ban the “Tush Push” after owners voted to keep it legal in May.

“Well, I’m sure this play might not even be around next year to be honest, just the way they’re officiating it, to be fair,” said Mailata.

“I think they’re just officiating it a little bit harder. If this is the last year that we get to run it, then we’re just gonna run it until we can’t run it anymore.”

Last season, when Philadelphia was the league’s dominant team for its final four months, capping the campaign with a 40-22 rout of the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 59, the “Tush Push” succeeded more than 80% of the time, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats.

“Teams adjust. We’ve got to continue to adjust. I think, credit to them – they did a really good job of stopping us there, and then also they got us to jump offsides,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said of the Commanders, who futilely tried to attack the play by launching LB Frankie Luvu over the line of scrimmage as Philadelphia routed Washington 55-23 in last season’s NFC title game.

“We have to get this play working the way it’s been in the past, which we’ll work our butts off to do so.”

Fortunately, quarterback Jalen Hurts, so often the beneficiary of the push plays, covered Philly’s tracks with a pair of touchdown passes Saturday after brute force failed.

But expect the Eagles to apply blunt force trauma in a bid to continue leveraging their bread-and-butter play in the upcoming postseason.

“When something’s been successful, you just want to lean in on that, especially with the guys that we have up front,” said Mailata, who has not been bookended by injured Pro Bowl right tackle Lane Johnson in recent weeks.

“We’ve got to do a better job at executing that play.”