The Philadelphia Eagles’ famed tush push was at the center of another controversy during the team’s 38-20 win over the New York Giants on Sunday.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts had the ball stripped from his hands by Giants defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux as he extended for a first down. The Giants recovered the ball, appearing to secure a key takeaway, but the referees blew the play dead due to forward progress. As a result, the Eagles were awarded a first down, much to the frustration of Giants head coach Brian Daboll, who was visibly fuming.
Just two plays after the fourth-down conversion, the Eagles scored a touchdown, extending their lead to 14-7.
Former Eagles star center Jason Kelce weighed in on the controversial call during a recent episode of “New Heights,” stating, “It’s a fumble, they missed it.”
Jason’s brother, Travis Kelce, added that the referees faced a tough decision: either call that Hurts’ momentum was stopped before reaching the line to gain, which would have resulted in a turnover on downs, or acknowledge the play as a fumble. Instead, the officials granted the Eagles a first down.
Jason agreed with Travis, noting that Hurts’ forward momentum was not stopped. He suggested that if the tush push is difficult to officiate, that might be a valid reason to consider banning the play altogether.
“I know there has been a lot of noise around false starts and now this play and I get it. If the tush push truly is hard to officiate, that would certainly be a reason to ban it,” Kelce said.
While acknowledging the challenges referees face in officiating the play, Jason Kelce defended the tactic itself.
“Listen, I know everyone wants to get on the tush push, again, I don’t see how this has anything to do with the tush push. Officials miss forward progress calls all the time,” he explained. “I’m not looking to make excuses, I just don’t know how these little things have to do with the pushing of tushes. Like, it’ll still be an issue if the Eagles run quarterback sneak, that’s my one caveat to it.”
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