Fed-up Eagles push back on criticism of tush push ahead of playoff rematch with Rams

“This is my official plea to all the teams out there,” offensive lineman Jordan Mailata said. “You can run the tush push just like we can.”

Fact check: He’s right.

More teams complain about the tush push than actually try and run the rugby-style scrum deemed so unstoppable that the Green Bay Packers proposed banning it. Their effort fell two votes short at the NFL's spring owners meeting.

With a reprieve, the Eagles are running up the tush push play total with little regard for what anybody says. Jalen Hurts scored a touchdown on a tush push and the Eagles used the play seven times to help send the Kansas City Chiefs to their first 0-2 start since 2014.

The next chance for the Eagles (2-0) to use the tush push comes Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams (2-0) in a playoff rematch from last season.

“They're such a damn good team and it's such a successful play for them,” Rams coach Sean McVay said.

Fox rules analyst Dean Blandino blasted the play on national television last weekend. Hall of Fame coach Bill Cowher said this week in a talk radio appearance: “It's not a football play. It’s a scrum.” Other prominent NFL personalities took turns bashing the tush push, in large part because officials struggle to catch false starts and the Eagles are seemingly getting away with offensive linemen moving early.

“Any time that you see certain things, you have conversations with the league office to just make sure you're understanding how's it officiated, how can we coach it,” McVay said. “I'm sure they'll have the same ones and operate within the confines of not getting a little bit of a rolling start before the ball is snapped.”

No example summed up how much the tush push can be a pain in the butt to the opposition quite like when the Eagles used it to maddening perfection against Washington in the NFC championship game last season. The Commanders jumped offside four times in a sequence of five plays while trying to stop the tush push — earning them a warning from the referee that he could award the Eagles a touchdown if the Commanders did it again.

ESPN reported the Eagles converted 96.6% of the time when running the play in fourth-and-1 situations and have attempted it 116 times overall since 2022.

That’s the incredible part: Teams know the tush push is coming, fans at Lincoln Financial Field go wild when the Eagles line up for it, and yet defenses still can’t stop it.

“It's a lot of coordination. A lot of organized mess,” Mailata said. “Any other team can do it.”

Retired Eagles center Jason Kelce agreed this week that the tush was starting to push the edge of fair play.

“I think they are trying to time it and going too early now. And lining it up too close,” Kelce said. “I sincerely hope (they) get back to running it like before to avoid all this nonsense over the rest of the season. I don't have the bandwidth for a full season of neutral zone discussion.”

But the play isn't going anywhere — at least not this season.

“I think it’s a beautiful piece of art," Mailata said.

Dynamic duo

Puka Nacua and Davante Adams have immediately clicked as a receiving duo, racking up 28 catches for 378 yards and a touchdown in their first two games with the Rams. They’ll put pressure on young Philadelphia cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. Los Angeles also threw the ball well against the Eagles last season, with 324 yards and two TDs for Matthew Stafford in the playoff loss.

Where have all the big plays gone?

The Eagles have a championship banner hanging at Lincoln Financial Field and are off to a 2-0 start — part of a run of 18 wins in their last 19 games, the most wins over any 19-game stretch in franchise history.

So, what's to complain about?

Well, the Eagles are winning without the explosive plays that highlighted their run to the Super Bowl.

Hurts has attempted only three passes of 20-plus yards this season and has only 253 yards passing and no touchdowns, Coming off a 2,000-yard rushing season, Saquon Barkley has only 148 yards over the first two games, and receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith have a combined 13 receptions.

The Eagles define an explosive passing play as one that goes 16-plus yards, and they have just two this season. Jahan Dotson had a 51-yard reception in the opener against Dallas and Smith had a 28-yard catch against the Chiefs.

Why so few? Everything from rust (the starters didn't play in the preseason) to new offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo have been blamed.

Playing it safe works. The Eagles have only one turnover in their last eight games.

“Explosive plays are great and you always want to try to get them. It makes it way easier to score. It makes it way more efficient, obviously, for an offense to move the ball down the field,” Patullo said. “But there is a fine line because you want to make sure those explosive plays aren’t coming at a cost where you’re at a high risk for a turnover in a game like that.”

Against the Rams in last season’s playoffs, Barkley had touchdown runs of 78 and 62 yards and finished with 205 yards rushing in a 28-22 win.

Long trips

This is the Rams’ second straight week with a long flight East and a 10 a.m. PDT kickoff, following last week’s win at Tennessee. Stafford says his balky back hasn’t been affected yet by all that time in the air, although it’s always on his mind. McVay said he prefers an early start, since it prevents players and coaches from overthinking what’s already been a long week of preparation.

AP Sports Writer Greg Beacham in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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