Love it or hate it, the Philadelphia Eagles’ ‘tush push’ has become one of the most recognizable plays in modern NFL history. Since quarterback Jalen Hurts became the Eagles’ starter, Philadelphia’s deployed the play in short yardage situations to convert first downs or touchdowns.
There was a conversation about potentially banning the play ahead of the 2025 season. That ban did not pass and the play remained legal for the year.
Teams have struggled to stop the tush push once again this year. Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores came up with a new idea of how to defend it by having edge rusher Tyler Batty line up perpendicular to the Eagles’ offensive line as the ‘low man’ to make things theoretically harder on Philadelphia.
The Eagles still converted, though, proving defenses must be even more creative to stop it.
Through Week 10, the Eagles have deployed the tush push with Hurts 18 times in short-yardage situations (1-2 yards to go) according NFL Next Gen Stats.
The most recent use of the tush push came with plenty of scrutiny in the Eagles’ ‘Monday Night Football’ win over the Green Bay Packers. Multiple Eagles offensive linemen appeared to jump early on the third-and-1 play from the Eagles’ own 18-yard line midway through the first quarter.
Have there been multiple missed false start calls on tush push plays? We reviewed the tape from the Eagles’ first nine games to find out:
Every Eagles tush push in 2025
Here’s a look at every tush push play with Hurts as the ball-carrier and the Eagles facing a short-yardage situation (1-2 yards for a first down or touchdown), the down, distance and whether it was converted or not:
Week 1 vs. Dallas:
13:24 in the fourth quarter, 3rd and 1 from the Eagles’ 22-yard line: Converted
11:05 in the fourth quarter, 3rd and 1 from the Eagles’ 32-yard line: Converted
Week 2 at Kansas City:
3:44 in the first quarter, 3rd and 1 from the Chiefs’ 43-yard line: Converted
8:30 left in the fourth quarter, 3rd and goal from the Chiefs’ 1-yard line: Not converted
7:53 left in the fourth quarter, 4th and goal from the Chiefs’ 1-yard line: Converted
5:29 left in the fourth quarter, 3rd and 1 from the Eagles’ 25-yard line: Converted
2:13 left in the fourth quarter, 2nd and 1 from the Chiefs’ 32-yard line: Not converted
2:00 left in the fourth quarter, 3rd and 1 from the Chiefs’ 32-yard line: Converted
Week 3 vs Los Angeles Rams:
9:08 in the first quarter, 4th and 1 from the Rams’ 3-yard line: Converted
8:12 left in the first quarter, 1st and goal from the Rams’ 1-yard line: Converted
3:47 left in the third quarter, 4th and 1 from the Rams’ 11-yard line: Converted
Week 6 at New York Giants:
9:02 in the second quarter, 3rd and 1 from the Giants’ 3-yard line: No gain
8:31 left in the second quarter, 4th and 1 from the Giants’ 3-yard line: Converted
7:42 left in the second quarter, 1st and goal from the Giants’ 1-yard line: Not converted
7:02 left in the second quarter, 2nd and goal from the Giants’ 1-yard line: Converted
Week 7 at Minnesota:
11:30 in the first quarter, 4th and 1 from the Eagles’ 45-yard line: Converted
Week 8 vs. New York Giants:
12:57 in the second quarter, 4th and 1 from the Giants’ 11-yard line: Converted
Week 10 at Green Bay:
8:18 in the first quarter, 3rd and 1 from the Eagles’ 18-yard line: Converted
Philadelphia converted the tush push 14 times on 18 attempts and that makes it one of the most effective plays in the NFL.
Potential missed false starts on the tush push in 2025
Multiple offensive linemen jumped early for the Eagles on their tush push against the Packers to the point that analyst Troy Aikman said he saw it happen in real time. Both guards Tyler Steen and Landon Dickerson committed false starts but were not flagged for it.
This is relatively unusual, though. Of the 18 tush push plays we examined, this is by far the most egregious false start committed by the offensive line. Even by slowing down the film to 0.25 speed, there were only two other times you could make a reasonable argument that an Eagles lineman jumped early.
Both came against the Chiefs and included Steen moving his arm up early before center Cam Jurgens snapped the ball. The first potential false start came at the 8:30 mark of the fourth quarter that the Eagles did not convert. The second came at the 5:29 mark of the same quarter that Hurts did convert for a first down.
Football fans were right to be upset by the Eagles not getting flagged for what happened in Week 10 but don’t take that to be the example of every tush push. That’s occurred once every six attempts as best we can tell through nine games.
All the NFL news on and off the field. Sign up for USA TODAY’s 4th and Monday newsletter.