After a week of increased scrutiny over the Philadelphia Eagles’ “Tush Push” play and calls for the play to be officiated tighter, the controversy surrounding the Eagles’ signature play flared up yet again early in their Week 3 contest against the Los Angeles Rams. With the Eagles driving towards the goal line in the first quarter, the offense appeared to get away with a false start while running the Tush Push deep in the red zone.
An overhead view of the play appeared to show Tyler Steen, the Eagles’ right guard, jumping early before the rest of the Philadelphia’s offensive line began to surge forward before quarterback Jalen Hurts entered the pile with pushes from behind. Despite the motion, and despite continued public criticism of the play following the Eagles’ win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2, no flag was thrown by the officiating crew.
Prior to the start of Week 3, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones reported that the NFL instructed its officials to keep a close eye on the Eagles’ Tush Push, reminding them players need to be aligned legally before the snap on the play. The notice came after the Eagles appeared to get away with two offensive linemen moving before the snap on a game-winning Tush Push against the Chiefs a week ago.
Instances of Eagles offensive linemen either false starting or being offsides on the Tush Push is the latest criticism of the play, which has become key to the Eagles’ offensive success over the past three years given they have turned it into a virtually un-guardable short yardage play. An attempt was made to ban the play in the offseason via a rule change proposal, but said proposal fell two votes shy of the necessary two-thirds vote.