NFL won’t ban controversial tush push, so teams will just have to learn to defend it
Twenty-two NFL owners are mad the Eagles lift more weights than them, but that wasn’t enough to ban the play.
The NFL wanted to punish the Eagles for being too good at something.
In the latest iteration of NFL owners not really understanding why the sport is the way it is, the NFL has chosen to ban the tush push, saying it’s because of “player health and safety,” but we all know the real issue here.
The tush push was in danger of being banned because one team got too good at it.
If the NFL were really worried about enforcing player safety, there would be much bigger priorities than banning a play that no data suggests is actually harmful. As a matter of fact, NFL Network’s James Palmer says that there’s no data that proves it’s not safe, but teams still choose to hammer on “player safety” as if that’s the issue here.
Part of the debate with the tush push is player safety. Which is understandable even though there is no data that proves it's unsafe. The Eagles as an organization have a track record of valuing safety, actually adopted the play because they felt it was safer than the traditional…
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) May 21, 2025
NFL owners are mad that one team found an advantage that not many have been able to replicate, so they wanted to legislate that out of the league. How is that the fair and honorable response to a play that has been stopped before? The Eagles aren’t unbeatable with this play, and the play isn’t a guarantee. In fact, the Buffalo Bills had a success rate of over 80% when they ran the tush push, and ran it four times in the AFC Championship game. Yet they were stopped running it in one of the most critical moments of the game. The play isn’t unstoppable; NFL defenses just need to squat more.
I would also argue that the tush push has forced teams to be creative with their goal line offense. Teams aren’t just lining up their QB under center and pushing them forward. Sometimes it’s a tight end, like Mark Andrews for the Baltimore Ravens does in short-yardage situations. We’ve also seen teams develop jet sweeps and tosses out of tush push looks to try and keep defenses on their toes. If the offense can continue to find counters and evolve the tush push, there’s no reason to ban the play other than NFL owners are jealous of the Eagles for finding an advantage while the rest of the NFL is still trying to catch up.
Banning the play doesn’t hold any weight in terms of player safety or protection from using the rules in the wrong way. It’s a whole room of owners and coaches who are scared to compete and find ways to defend it better.
And that in itself is the antithesis of football.