Packers couldn't stop Eagles' tush
push during offseason. Now they'll try to contain it on the field
[November 10, 2025]
By STEVE MEGARGEE
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — The Green Bay Packers couldn’t thwart the
tush push during the offseason.
Now they must try to find a way to stop it in a game.
Green Bay proposed a ban on the play during the offseason, a measure
that fell two votes short of passage.
That has enabled the Philadelphia Eagles to continue using the
short-yardage play in their Super Bowl title defense.
The Eagles (6-2) beat the Packers (5-2-1) twice last season —
including a playoff victory — and face them again Monday night at
Lambeau Field.
“We know it’s coming,” Packers defensive lineman Karl Brooks said.
“Really, I look forward to the challenge of just stopping it and
getting a turnover on downs, whether it’s fourth-and-1 or
third-and-1. But it is an annoying play to deal with.”
The Eagles have been ruthlessly efficient in converting
short-yardage situations by having quarterback Jalen Hurts sneak
while teammates line up behind him and push him forward.
Mark Murphy, the Packers’ president/CEO at the time, proposed
banning the play before his July retirement. A rule that would have
prohibited offensive players from pushing, pulling, lifting,
grasping or encircling a runner was supported by a 22-10 vote of NFL
owners, but it needed a three-quarters majority according to league
bylaws.
“When you look at the play, I would say I don’t think it’s a great
football play,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said during the NFL
owners meetings in April when a ban was under discussion. “It’s more
of a rugby play. And then some of the injury concerns. We just want
to kind of get out in front of that and be a little bit more
proactive.”’
LaFleur wasn’t nearly as talkative when he was asked about the tush
push Thursday.
“Guys, I’m not going to get into it,” LaFleur said. "It is what it
is. You know, the NFL made a decision, and we have to find a way to
try to stop the play, and it’s a tough play to stop.”
Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni says he hasn’t thought much about
the fact that the Eagles are facing the team that tried banning the
play. Sirianni also said he didn’t care one way or another about how
the tush push irritates some opponents.
“I try not to get wrapped up into things that are out of my control,
and so I don’t have an opinion either way,” Sirianni said. “This is
the rule, this is what we’ll play by with the rule, and we’ll go
from there.”
The Eagles started using the tush push in 2021. According to
Sportradar, when the Eagles have attempted a quarterback sneak while
facing third-and-1 or fourth-and-1 (including goal-to-go
situations), they have converted 85.9% of the time since 2021. Their
worst efficiency rate in those situations since then has come this
season, when they’ve converted 13 of 17 times.
The league-wide conversion rate on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1
situations (not limited to quarterback sneaks) was 70.7% in 2021,
67.3% in 2022, 69% in 2023, 70.1% in 2024 and 68.8% this season
heading into Sunday’s games.
Philadelphia’s use of the tush push makes the Eagles particularly
difficult to stop when approaching the goal line. The Eagles have
scored touchdowns on 85% of their red zone possessions this season,
the best conversion rate by any team through the first eight games
of a season since Seattle in 2020.
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Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts runs the "tush push"
play during an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Oct.
26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola, File)
“The success rate is incredible, and they’ve done
such a good job mastering it,” Packers defensive coordinator Jeff
Hafley said.
The Eagles have tried some variations on the tush push this season
to keep defenses off balance.
In a victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier this season, the
Eagles lined up as if they were going to attempt the tush push on
first-and-goal, but Hurts instead threw an underhanded pass to tight
end Dallas Goedert for a 2-yard touchdown. Later in that game, the
Eagles again passed up a sneak, as Hurts handed off to Saquon
Barkley for a 6-yard touchdown on third-and-1.
The tush push has received more scrutiny this season after the
unsuccessful bid to ban it. The idea that the play is too difficult
to officiate has gained credence with videos circulating on social
media showing false starts going uncalled.
“It’s really the pushing and the pulling and the offsides, people
jumping, people leaving before the ball’s snapped,” Packers
defensive end Micah Parsons said. “There’s no other play where
there’s this much discrepancy on a play in the NFL.”
The Eagles have pointed out that every team has the opportunity to
attempt this play. Most simply aren’t quite good enough at executing
it.
“It’s a precision play,” Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said during the
offseason while the ban was under discussion. “It’s very practiced.
We devote a lot of resources to the tush push. We think we have an
unusual use of personnel because we have a quarterback that can
squat over 600 pounds and an offensive line that’s filled with
All-Pro players.”
Indeed, the Packers even used a version of the tush push a handful
of times in 2023, but eventually decided the play’s risks outweighed
the potential rewards.
“For me, it’s always, do you want your quarterback subject to some
of those hits that he could potentially face in those situations?”
LaFleur said.
In preparing for this game, Hafley has studied the teams that have
defended the tush push the best. The Packers realize there’s only
one foolproof way to stop it.
“The key to defending it (is) don’t let them get third-and-short,
obviously,” defensive tackle Colby Wooden said.
___
AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed to this
report.
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