GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — The Green Bay Packers couldn’t thwart the tush push during the offseason.
Now they must try to find a way to stop it in a game.
Green Bay proposed a ban on the play during the offseason, a measure that fell two votes short of passage.
That has enabled the Philadelphia Eagles to continue using the short-yardage play in their Super Bowl title defense.
The Eagles (6-2) beat the Packers (5-2-1) twice last season — including a playoff victory — and face them again Monday night at Lambeau Field.
“We know it’s coming,” Packers defensive lineman Karl Brooks said. “Really, I look forward to the challenge of just stopping it and getting a turnover on downs, whether it’s fourth-and-1 or third-and-1. But it is an annoying play to deal with.”
The Eagles have been ruthlessly efficient in converting short-yardage situations by having quarterback Jalen Hurts sneak while teammates line up behind him and push him forward.
Mark Murphy, the Packers’ president/CEO at the time, proposed banning the play before his July retirement. A rule that would have prohibited offensive players from pushing, pulling, lifting, grasping or encircling a runner was supported by a 22-10 vote of NFL owners, but it needed a three-quarters majority according to league bylaws.
“When you look at the play, I would say I don’t think it’s a great football play,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said during the NFL owners meetings in April when a ban was under discussion. “It’s more of a rugby play. And then some of the injury concerns. We just want to kind of get out in front of that and be a little bit more proactive.”’
LaFleur wasn’t nearly as talkative when he was asked about the tush push Thursday.
“Guys, I’m not going to get into it,” LaFleur said. "It is what it is. You know, the NFL made a decision, and we have to find a way to try to stop the play, and it’s a tough play to stop.”
Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni says he hasn’t thought much about the fact that the Eagles are facing the team that tried banning the play. Sirianni also said he didn’t care one way or another about how the tush push irritates some opponents.
“I try not to get wrapped up into things that are out of my control, and so I don’t have an opinion either way,” Sirianni said. “This is the rule, this is what we’ll play by with the rule, and we’ll go from there.”
The Eagles started using the tush push in 2021. According to Sportradar, when the Eagles have attempted a quarterback sneak while facing third-and-1 or fourth-and-1 (including goal-to-go situations), they have converted 85.9% of the time since 2021. Their worst efficiency rate in those situations since then has come this season, when they’ve converted 13 of 17 times.
The league-wide conversion rate on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 situations (not limited to quarterback sneaks) was 70.7% in 2021, 67.3% in 2022, 69% in 2023, 70.1% in 2024 and 68.8% this season heading into Sunday’s games.
Philadelphia’s use of the tush push makes the Eagles particularly difficult to stop when approaching the goal line. The Eagles have scored touchdowns on 85% of their red zone possessions this season, the best conversion rate by any team through the first eight games of a season since Seattle in 2020.
“The success rate is incredible, and they’ve done such a good job mastering it,” Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said.
The Eagles have tried some variations on the tush push this season to keep defenses off balance.
In a victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier this season, the Eagles lined up as if they were going to attempt the tush push on first-and-goal, but Hurts instead threw an underhanded pass to tight end Dallas Goedert for a 2-yard touchdown. Later in that game, the Eagles again passed up a sneak, as Hurts handed off to Saquon Barkley for a 6-yard touchdown on third-and-1.
The tush push has received more scrutiny this season after the unsuccessful bid to ban it. The idea that the play is too difficult to officiate has gained credence with videos circulating on social media showing false starts going uncalled.
“It’s really the pushing and the pulling and the offsides, people jumping, people leaving before the ball’s snapped,” Packers defensive end Micah Parsons said. “There’s no other play where there’s this much discrepancy on a play in the NFL.”
The Eagles have pointed out that every team has the opportunity to attempt this play. Most simply aren’t quite good enough at executing it.
“It’s a precision play,” Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said during the offseason while the ban was under discussion. “It’s very practiced. We devote a lot of resources to the tush push. We think we have an unusual use of personnel because we have a quarterback that can squat over 600 pounds and an offensive line that’s filled with All-Pro players.”
Indeed, the Packers even used a version of the tush push a handful of times in 2023, but eventually decided the play’s risks outweighed the potential rewards.
“For me, it’s always, do you want your quarterback subject to some of those hits that he could potentially face in those situations?” LaFleur said.
In preparing for this game, Hafley has studied the teams that have defended the tush push the best. The Packers realize there’s only one foolproof way to stop it.
“The key to defending it (is) don’t let them get third-and-short, obviously,” defensive tackle Colby Wooden said.
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AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
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