There has been a certain play that has sparked a ton of controversy, that being the Tush Push that the Philadelphia Eagles run. Philadelphia started using it in the 2021 season, but it became more prominent in their offense during the 2022 season, in which they made the Super Bowl. Even during that time, the play was heavily criticized for being too hard to stop.
While many think that the original idea of the play came from Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, it actually was first brought up by former Minnesota Vikings star Anthony Barr in the 2018 season. Barr was sitting on the bench where he suggested to other teams that they should put a “big unit quarterback and two big players behind him and push him in”. Barr’s teammate Harrison Smith agreed, saying that it was a great idea.
Two seasons later, Nick Sirianni would be the offensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts, where he would suggest putting in 230-pound backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett for a quarterback sneak. After running the play, it would be a success, which would make Sirianni very excited. Sirianni would run the same play a season later, where he would be the head coach for the Eagles and have powerful quarterback Jalen Hurts run the same sneak with the help of a fullback pushing him in.
Sirianni still runs the same play to this day with a very high success rate. Since 2022, the Tush Push has had a success rate of 91.3%. Obviously, with this high success rate, this has also caused lots of frustration with other teams and players.
In April of 2025, the Green Bay Packers proposed an attempt to ban the Tush Push, although it may seem that they tried to ban it because of the success of the play, it was actually due to player safety concerns with potential injuries. This is very odd because the Tush Push has only had one injury during the play, and that was this season, so when the ban was proposed, there were never any injuries that happened during the play. The Tush Push ban failed after not receiving enough votes from NFL owners.
The play has been heavily criticized by former and current players, saying that the play is boring and makes football not enjoyable. Former New Orleans Saints legend, Drew Brees, stated that the Eagles have “the most boring offense in the NFL”. Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter went on 97.5 The Fanatic to express his feelings towards the play. Schefter went off on the play, saying that it was “unfair” and “should have been banned by the NFL”.
It has also sparked even more controversy in both games the Eagles played against the New York Giants. The first one was during a Thursday Night Football game where the Eagles ran the same play 4 times in a row that led to a touchdown. This caused a lot of fans to be upset because they felt that it was practically impossible to prevent the touchdown. The other time was a game on Sunday where they ran the Tush Push, and New York Giants star defensive end, Kavon Thibodeaux, forced a fumble, which was called back. But it didn’t count due to the officials stating that Hurts’ forward progress was stopped. Both of these plays caused a lot of drama.
The tush push has caused lots of controversy that could lead to another attempt to ban it. With all of the questionable calls and other issues, the Tush Push situation worsens each week with new issues.
