After winning Super Bowl LIX, the Philadelphia Eagles aren’t just heading into next season with a target on their backs—they’ve also got one on their signature play.
Over the past few seasons, the Eagles have taken the traditional QB sneak and turned it into a nearly unstoppable weapon: the “tush push.” The play is exactly what it sounds like—quarterback Jalen Hurts gets a powerful shove from two teammates lined up behind him, making it almost automatic in short-yardage situations. Plenty of teams have tried to copy it, but few have pulled it off with the same success as Philly.
So what happens when teams can’t figure out how to stop something? They push to ban it. That’s exactly what the Green Bay Packers are doing after officially proposing a rule change to eliminate the play.
According to reports, Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy called the tush push “bad for the game” following Green Bay’s playoff loss to the Eagles. While frustration over that defeat might play a role, the bigger debate surrounding the play is about player safety.
Judy Battista of NFL.com reported that since the tush push is used infrequently across the league, there isn’t enough injury data to justify a ban based on safety concerns alone.
However, the NFL will review the proposal during its Annual League Meeting in March. In order for the ban to go into effect, at least 24 of the 32 team owners would need to approve the change.
Whether the Packers succeed in outlawing the tush push or not, they’ll still have to deal with the Eagles next season. Green Bay will host Philadelphia as part of the NFC North’s matchup with the NFC East in 2025, and another playoff meeting isn’t out of the question.
As for the odds? The Packers are currently +900 to win the NFC—the fifth-shortest odds—while the Eagles are the favorites to repeat as conference champs at +300, per BetMGM. Philadelphia is also the top Super Bowl favorite at +650, while Green Bay sits further down the board at +2000.
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