Jets won't be bullied by Eagles' 'Tush Push'
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, top center, stretches but is unable to get a first down during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023, in Inglewood, Calif. Credit: AP/Kevork Djansezian
Pucker up and push back harder.
Many have tried, but few defenses have succeeded in stopping Philadelphia’s “Tush Push” or “Brotherly Shove.” The creatively named quarterback sneak features Jalen Hurts being pushed by teammates lined up behind him.
The Jets have a plan to neutralize the Eagles’ signature short-yardage play, if and when they run it on Sunday.
“It feels like the quarterback is wearing a bulletproof vest when you look at him, he’s got all that padding on him,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “We’re going to do our best to try and stop it.
“If the quarterback carries the ball, we’ve got to give him 11 kisses.”
It’s a humorous way of saying the Jets plan to hit Hurts and knock him back and keep him from getting the necessary yardage.
History is on the Eagles’ side, though.
Philadelphia often calls it on third-and-1, fourth-and-1 or goal-to-go situations from the 1. According to ESPN Stats and Info, the Eagles have run it 43 times in the regular season dating to last year and have gotten a first down or touchdown 38 times. They were 4-for-6 with a touchdown on the last play of the first half last week against the Rams. For the season, it’s 13-for-16.
“The reality is they’re really good at it,” Saleh said.
Everything starts up front.
The offensive line is tightly packed. Center Jason Kelce lowers his pad level and drives forward, while the guards and tackles flanking him do the same. Hurts often has a tight end and big receiver (A.J. Brown) behind him, pushing him forward.
“They play violent, they play aggressive,” Saleh said. “They’ve got a quarterback who is super-strong in terms of creating leverage. I don’t think he feels pain when he gets hit. Even though we’re going to try — legally.”
Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley compared it to a rugby scrum and noted that how the Eagles execute it puts the defense at a disadvantage.
“It’s really their O-line, they just get really low so you can’t get under them,” Mosley told Newsday. “The quarterback takes a brief second and they create that little space. That’s really it, like rugby style. The low man wins. It’s hard to get that low when they’re two inches off the ground.”
The Jets have a not-so-secret weapon in Al Woods. Tackle Quinnen Williams is the Jets’ best defensive player, but Woods is their biggest. They could line up the 6-4, 309-pound defensive lineman in front of Kelce and take their chances.
“We have a plan for it, we do, and I’m excited to see if we can stop it,” defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said. “I know we have the means to do it. Al Woods does not hurt your chances against that play.”
Woods, 36, is known for his ability to stuff the run. Maybe he could be a Tush-Push-Stuffer or Brotherly Shove-Stopper.
Woods was asked how you stop it.
“Just line up and whoop their [expletive],” Woods told Newsday. “It’s simple.”
Why haven’t other teams been able to?
“Because they could maybe not have that mentality,” Woods said.
Other teams have tried to duplicate it and haven’t had nearly the same success.
The Giants ran it against the Seahawks in Week 4. It didn’t work and worse, rookie center John Michael Schmitz and tight end Daniel Bellinger got injured on the play.
Some around the NFL want it banned. The NFL’s competition committee reviewed the play during the offseason. It could be on the agenda again. Saleh said if it’s “a safety issue,” it should be removed. Otherwise he has no problem with it.
“It’s just a scrum,” Saleh said. “ . . . If you ain’t got no haters, you ain’t poppin. A lot of people are hating on their play because it works. The Eagles’ personnel make it work.
The Eagles have three Pro Bowl players on their offensive line in Kelce, left guard Landon Dickerson and right tackle Lane Johnson. They dominate defensive lines regularly. The Eagles have the second-best rushing offense. Hurts has four rushing touchdowns, all of them 1-yarders.
“That front five they have is man-on-man, will-vs.-will, and it’s just a scrum,” Saleh said. “Then the quarterback, he’s so powerful.”
Saleh and Ulbrich also said the Eagles have gotten so proficient at it that they run other plays off of that sneak. They run reverses, jet sweeps, tosses and pop passes.
Ulbrich said you can’t sell out for the push because you can get burned. Saleh said defensive coaches would love to get a sixth lineman on the field, but the Eagles go no-huddle so you can’t sub in anyone.
“They don’t let you,” Saleh said.
Some in the Jets’ locker room wondered how Kelce is not flagged for a false start. Defensive tackle Quinton Jefferson said Kelce’s head is nearly over the ball. Jefferson also said there’s a way to stop it.
“Don’t get in those situations,” he said. “That’s the best way to stop it. Keep them in third-and-long, and if it’s fourth-and-long, they’re going to punt it.”
Mosley echoed that but said if the Jets are in that position, someone has to try extra hard to knock the ball out.
The Jets have faced three QB sneaks this season and stopped one. The Bills with Josh Allen were successful twice, but they stuffed New England’s Mac Jones. The Eagles, with their line and Hurts, are on a different level.
“It’s not just purely ‘snap the ball, everyone get low and push,’ ” Ulbrich said. “It really feels like they had a rugby coach come in and teach them how to scrum, because they are in perfect unison.
“The way they fire off, the pad level is all at the same level, the timing of it, the way that they fudge the linemen, and they fudge their stances at times to do it, so it’s a tough play. It really is. And obviously, they’ve had a ton of success doing it. I know this sounds twisted, but I’m excited to see what we can do against it.”
The Eagles have their own play to stop. It involves Jets running back Breece Hall racing past defenders. Hall is seventh in the NFL in rushing and second at 7.2 yards per carry.
How will the Eagles defend against the Breece Burst? Philadelphia defensive tackle Fletcher Cox said, “We got to go kiss him 11 times.”
Love Hurts.
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
