Adam Schefter calls for the NFL to ban tush push

In light of the Eagles’ 20-17 win over the Chiefs Sunday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter blamed the allowance of the tush push as the reason why. Philadelphia improved to 2-0 on the season while Kansas City was 0-2 for the first time in over a decade.

But Schefter said this game was decided back in March when owners decided to not ban the Eagles’ version of the QB sneak. When officials missed a false start, Tom Brady, Dean Blandino and many others in addition to the FOX broadcast, called the play impossible to officiate.

Schefter went borderline ballistic on Monday’s Get Up, calling for the tush push to be banned. But the reality is, as he pointed out, it’s here to stay for now and Philly has perfected the play.

“The biggest thing here, to me is that this game was lost in March,” Schefter said. “This game was lost when the NFL owners refused to ban the tush push from happening. It wasn’t lost yesterday. And there might be a lot of games that the Eagles play that are lost in March, because this play is unstoppable. 

“Not only does the defense not know how to handle it, but the officials don’t even know how to handle it. You see, the Eagles line up and jump offsides, every play. The officials have no idea. Defenses have no idea. And the Eagles get to do whatever they want on every single play in the tush push and again, I know people hate it, but they have mastered it. They have dominated the line of scrimmage … They don’t know how to officiate it. They don’t know how to stop it. Nobody knows what to do about it, and that is one of the main reasons that the Eagles can’t be stopped and that they’re 2-0 today.”

In other examples of not knowing how to officiate the tush push, the Eagles appeared to have a touchdown late in the game from Jalen Hurts, which was called short of the goal line. Head coach Nick Sirianni challenged the play, to no avail. 

But, they scored using the tush push once again on fourth down. Missed false starts? Perhaps a make up call? Either way, the tush push will remain in the Eagles’ playbook.

Ironically, top teams like the Green Bay Packers and Buffalo Bills voted against the play back in March and wanted it banned. However, the Packers and Bills have utilized the tush push, albeit to not as much success as the Eagles.