Some NFL head coaches, like Matt LaFleur of the Packers, are so opposed to the tush push they want the league to ban it. Others, like Dan Campbell of the Lions, put it on their teams to stop it.
"Here’s why: I’m a purist, man," Campbell said Wednesday as the Lions prepare for Sunday night's showdown with the Eagles. "You take something else out of the game, then we’re taking the next thing out of the game, then you’re taking another thing out of the game and pretty soon, we don’t have pads anymore. Pretty soon, you’re only playing thirty minutes."
Campbell said the last part in jest, but meant it when he added, "So, I don’t want to take it out of the game."
The Eagles have made the tush push a highly effective part of their short-yardage offense, thanks to a stout O-line and a quarterback who's been known to squat 600 pounds. It's become an increasing point of contention around the NFL as referees have noted the challenge of officiating a play with a pile of bodies obstructing their view, which makes it hard to judge forward progress and/or infractions like false starts.
The Packers proposed banning the play at the NFL owners meetings last offseason around the argument that it threatens player safety and creates an unfair advantage for the offense. Their proposal, which forbid the immediate pushing of the player who takes the snap, received yes votes from 22 teams, two votes shy of the required number to pass.
LaFleur is on record as saying that he doesn't want to ban it "just because they do it at a high level" but because "when you look at the play, it's more of a rugby scrum than it is a football play." Campbell would just rather figure out a way to counter it, then line up his defense to get it done.
"A team's got a niche, they found something, they're good at it, and it's for everybody else to stop," Campbell said. "It’s unique and it’s physical. More than anything, I just don’t want to take anything else out of the game. I just want to leave the game alone. That's me."
The Lions haven't played the Eagles since Week 1 of 2022, when Philly sealed a three-point win at Ford Field with a tush push on 4th and 1. And Detroit hasn't faced many teams who run a version of it since. But Campbell said he's put some thought in the interim into how the Lions might stop it because he figured they might collide with the Eagles the last two years in the playoffs.
"It’s always come up in conversations with us, kind of, 'What would you do, how would you handle it?' There again, there's nothing easy about it," said Campbell. "Look, every team can say they’ve got something (to stop it), and then they run it on everybody and have success. They’ve mastered it. They play with leverage, they know the snap count, and then they’ve got a couple curveballs off of it, so you’ve got to be careful. If it’s an all-out sellout with 11 (defenders), then they’re off on the perimeter. But we’ve talked about it.
Both the Eagles' usage of the tush push and its effectiveness are down this season, as Philly has lost some key pieces on its offensive line. Center Cam Jurgens, who replaced future Hall of Famer Jason Kelce last season, missed last week's win over the Packers, while right tackle Lane Johnson briefly left the game with an ankle injury. Entering their win over the Packers, the Eagles had converted about 77 percent of tush pushes, per ESPN, down from 82 percent last year, 83 percent in 2023 and 93 percent in 2022.
On Sunday, the Lions will try to become the latest team to stop it.
"We’ve got a plan, we’ve got an idea," said Campbell. "You’ve got to execute. And if you don’t, you’ve got to line up and do it again if it comes up again and just find a way to stop them. And hopefully it’s a critical. If you end up getting three or four of them in a game, maybe it’s that one that you stop that changes the whole game."