NFL owners are gathering at Vikings headquarters in Eagan, Minnesota Tuesday and Wednesday for one of their regular, offseason meetings.
One of the items on the agenda is eliminating the "Tush Push." That's a play where the ball carrier is pushed from behind to gain short yardage.
Purple Insider's Matthew Coller can't imagine the team owners getting rid of it but there are some teams calling for it to be banned.
"There's only one team that actually uses it a lot, and that's Philadelphia," Coller says. "It seems like these teams just want them to stop dominating with their play. And I don't see anything that is illegal about it. It's just the QB sneak where someone pushes somebody."
The NFL actually tabled the tush push issue seven weeks ago for further discussion. A vote is expected on the proposal which is spearheaded by the Green Bay Packers. To pass the ban, 24 of the 32 teams must approve it.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said last month he believes the owners will reach a consensus on the issue that involves both competitive integrity and player safety. The league released a revised proposal by the Packers on Monday that broadens the language to prohibit pushing, pulling, lifting or encircling a runner by any offensive player, not specific to quarterback assists. The penalty is 10 yards. This is what the rulebook stated 20 years ago, until the ban was lifted because of the difficulty of enforcement.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie has been leading the defense of the play his team developed with the coinciding arrival of strong-legged quarterback Jalen Hurts in 2020.
NFL owners are also expected to look further into revising the playoff format, and to officially allow players to participate in the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, which for the first time will include flag football.
Besides the tush push, it's the playoff format issue that has the most attention on it. The way it works now makes it possible that a team with a better record must play on the road - something the Vikings know firsthand.
"You should get seeded in the playoffs by your actual strength as a team throughout the season, not by the division," Coller said. "And it's not just because the Vikings got screwed last year, but what an example. You win 14 games and you got to go travel to somebody else who won 10. It just seems unfair to me."