Eagles get away with ‘tush push’ penalty despite increased focus on play, score on next attempt
The Philadelphia Eagles were expected to face increased scrutiny on the “tush push” in Week 3, but the team got away with a penalty on its first attempt Sunday. The next play, the team ran it again, this time for a touchdown.
Facing a fourth-and-1 at the 3-yard-line on the team’s first drive, the Eagles opted to run their favorite play: the tush push. Jalen Hurts managed to sneak the football over the first-down line, extending the drive.
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But it shouldn’t have gone down that way. The Eagles actually false started on the play, but it wasn’t called.
While missed penalties happen often, this one deserves increased scrutiny. Prior to Week 3, the NFL reportedly sent film to all teams, letting them know pre-snap penalties would be called tighter going forward. One of the examples in the video included a recent Eagles tush-push attempt that should have been flagged.
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The Kansas City Chiefs called out a couple apparent false-starts by the Eagles on tush-push plays in KC’s Week 2 loss to Philadelphia.
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The missed call had major implications early in the team’s contest against the Los Angeles Rams. After converting on the fourth-and-1, the Eagles ran the tush push again.
This time, they scored.
The tush push has faced increased scrutiny from the league since the Eagles first introduced it. NFL owners voted whether to ban the play during the offseason, but the motion did not pass. While nearly every other NFL team has adopted the play, no team runs it as well as the Eagles.
That remained true Sunday … even when the Eagles should have been flagged on the play.
In the end, the play didn’t drastically influence the game. Both the Eagles and Rams went back-and-forth in one of the best early games of the day. The Eagles came out on top after a blocked field goal at the last second, winning the game 33-26.
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While the Eagles managed to avoid a flag on the “tush push,” at least one other team wasn’t so lucky. On their first attempt Sunday, the New Orleans Saints were flagged after a false start on a “tush push.” The Saints had to punt the ball, which was returned for a touchdown.