DENVER — The NFL competition committee needs to strongly consider outlawing the Quarterback Push.
First, it’s dangerous. It’s especially unsafe for the center and guards, and if those players aren’t enough to ignite NFL concern, remember Patrick Mahomes II suffered a dislocated kneecap on a quarterback sneak in a 2019 game against the Broncos.
Yes, it’s an entertaining play, and the Philadelphia Eagles have mastered what they call the “Tush Push” to keep drives alive. In Super Bowl 57 on Sunday, the Eagles were 5-of-5 with the Push Jalen Hurts Play that was part of five scoring drives that led to 28 of their 35 points.
The only time it didn’t work was when Eagles’ right guard Isaac Seumalo flinched, a 5-yard penalty that set up the biggest play of the game – Hurts’ unforced fumble and Sunday hop bounce to Chiefs’ linebacker Nick Bolton, who returned it 36 yards for a touchdown.
The QB Push is an entertaining play because it’s a physical battle of brute strength. In another manner of the Push Play, Broncos fans enjoyed it when left guard Dalton Risner grabbed Phillip Lindsay at the 1-yard line and threw the running back into the end zone for a touchdown against Green Bay in a 2019 game. It was described as an exhibition of determination and effort.
According to Paul Domowitch of 33rdTeam, pushing the runner to advance him forward has been legal in the NFL since 2005 and the college game since 2013.
It wasn’t until the Eagles repeatedly used it on short yardage/goal line plays this year – in particular Super Bowl 57 – that the Push Play gained national attention. And therefore it is now worth examining.
Reason one (but not the most important reason) I think it should be deemed illegal:
It breaks the spirit of fair competition. Rulebooks are written and enforced to keep the game fair. It’s a clear unfair advantage to line up more players behind the quarterback and push him forward against outmanned defensive fronts. Rugby, which many historians say was the impetus of our American football game, allows for the “bind on” push the ball carrier from behind. But no blockers in front of the ball carrier, therefore no legs to roll over.
In football, it’s the offense that has the advantage here, so the NFL may not want to eliminate the QB Push. Again, the play kept five Eagles’ scoring drives alive against the Chiefs. It might not have been much of a Super Bowl without the QB Push.
Two, and this is the biggest reason, the play is incredibly unsafe. Or did Chris Jones jumping over the line of scrimmage to knock Hurts look safe to you?
The NFL has made several rule adjustments in recent years in the name of player safety. The wedge on kickoff returns is no more. The Broncos’ Justin Simmons jumping over the line to block an extra point against Sean Payton’s Saints was a remarkable athletic feat and arguably the most exciting play in the Broncos’ 2016 season – especially when Will Parks returned the blocked ball for a game-winning 2-point conversion.
But the play was outlawed after the season because it was deemed unsafe.
The QB Push now rises up to put more players in danger.
Mahomes has missed only two games because of injury in his six-year career, and it was because of the knee issue he suffered off the quarterback sneak to convert a fourth-and-1 against the Broncos in an October 2019 game at Empower Field at Mile High – with no push from behind.
Besides all the humanity, the officials seem to allow the quarterback an extra second or two before blowing the forward progress whistle on the Tush Push. The Chiefs did have Hurts stopped once on the QB Push, but the refs let the Eagles keep pushing until he crossed the first-down line.
I hate to put a crimp in the Eagles’ creativity and join forces with the No Fun League rule-makers. It is a great play.
But injuries have become the No. 1 issue to a fair, competitive NFL season. It has been for the Broncos, anyway. Here’s hoping the NFL competition committee looks closely at the play and makes some sort of amendment or change in the name of player safety. And fairness.
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