The fate of the “Brotherly Shove,” “The Tush Push,” or whatever you’d like to call the short-yardage quarterback sneak play used by the Philadelphia Eagles that has been made by some into a tool of the devil, will be decided Wednesday.
The National Football League’s spring meeting in Minneapolis is today, and the play – which the Green Bay Packers proposed earlier this year to legislate out of the game – is one of the topics on the table.
For their part, members of the Eagles were asked about the play, or its elimination from the game, this week.
“I don’t have any thoughts on it. It’s only 1 yard,” wide receiver A.J. Brown told the media.
Coach Nick Sirianni was a bit more supportive.
“We’re not waiting very long to figure it out,” Sirianni said. “It’s going to be public (on Wednesday), and you know how I feel about it.”
The play enlists the offensive line and other players pushing the quarterback forward in short-distance situations, such as at the goal line or in fourth-and-2 or shorter. Since initially proposing the play be banned, Green Bay submitted a revised proposal that calls for the league to ban pushing the ball-carrier forward at any time during a game.
The primary argument against the play, apparently, which was successfully-executed by the Eagles and the Buffalo Bills way more often than not last year, is that injuries could result.
The Eagles and the Bills most often use the play, and combined, they achieved the first down or the touchdown on 87 percent of those plays. It works for other teams, as well: 71 percent of short-yardage situations were converted by teams other than Philly or Buffalo.
Other topics – which honestly seem way more important – on the league agenda for the spring meetings include the possibility of expanding to an 18-game schedule, and changes in the seeding process of the playoffs.
The league expanded to 17 regular season games just a couple of years ago, after having a 16-game format for decades. One of the results was a shortened preseason.
As far as the playoff format, the Detroit Lions submitted a proposal earlier this year that the postseason, in particular home field advantage, should be based on overall record, not on whether or not a team is a division champion.
We’ll have separate stories on all of these topics as the NFL tackles them this week.
