Get Ready For More Eagles Tush Push, Who Would've Been Just Fine Without It

The Eagles were ready in case they were not going to be allowed to use the tush push anymore. They had moved Ben Van Sumeren from linebacker to fullback and drafted defensive lineman Ty Robinson who could double as a fullback if needed. Not just that, but Jalen Hurts isn’t getting any weaker, still capable of squatting a small house, and that offensive line is still able to exert its will in short-yardage situations.

Wheels that the Eagles had set in motion were temporarily halted on Wednesday, when NFL commissioner Roger Goodell couldn’t drum up enough votes from ownership to ban the tush push. The play will live for another season, though it came closer to being eliminated in this latest vote. In the spring, it fell eight owners' votes short of the 24 needed to outlaw the play. This time, it missed by just two votes.

That means 10 teams voted against banning it. NFL Media reported that Lions coach Dan Campbell and Patriots coach Mike Vrabel were against the ban, noting that the onus should be on teams to stop the play, not legislate it out of the game.

ESPN"s Adam Schefter reported it was these nine teams who sided with the Eagles: Raven, Browns, Lions, Jaguars, Dolphins, Patriots, Saints, Jets, and Titans.

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and former Eagles enter Jason Kelce, who initaited many a tush push before retiring, were in Minnesota to defend the play. That may have helped sway the vote.

Every story needs a villain, and this one has at least two. Goodell is one. He wants it banned, especially after watching the Eagles soar to a Super Bowl. The Packers are another, because they introduced legislation to rid the game of a play that many despise.

The Eagles stuck it in the Packers’ face by putting on social media a post that had the Packers on it with the words, “Push on.” Philly put a video on its YouTube channel featuring “26 minutes of the Tush Push.”

The Packers had waited until Tuesday night, hours before the vote, to alter the language in their proposal that, per NFL Media, would have eliminated "pushing or pulling a runner in any direction at any time” while lifting the player to his feet. That didn’t work. Nor did Goodell’s push to ban the push.

Knocks against the tush push are all manufactured, especially the health and safety aspect, the aesthetics, and pace of play. None of them hold up.

First, health and safety issue. There is no evidence of an injury of any kind. The counter to that lack of injury argument is that it could cause one. That’s ridiculous, because anything can cause an injury anytime a player steps between the lines.

Second, it “doesn’t look like a football play.” Those trying to ban it think it resembles a rugby play. So what?

Third, the pace of play. The argument is it takes too long to untangle the bodies from the pileup the play causes is no more than it takes for a regular QB sneak. Does it matter that a game that generally takes three hours from start to finish is another minute or two longer, if at all?

The Eagles would be fine without having it at their disposal, because they would still likely be successful gaining a yard or two on conventional quarterback sneaks or brining in a fullback to lead the way on a handoff to Saquon Barkley or even A.J. Dillon.

It will be interesting to see how any animosity plays out when the Eagles travel to Green Bay for a Monday Night Football clash on Nov. 10.