Breaking: NFL's discussions on Eagles' tush push play getting banned tabled until a further date

There is a breaking development on the controversial tush push ban proposal at the NFL Owners’ Annual Meeting. NFL insider for the NFL Network Ian Rapoport reported on Tuesday that the proposal has been postponed for further discussions at a later date.

“Discussions on the tush push have been tabled until a later date, source said.”

The decision by the NFL to hold off on deciding on the tush push bodes well for Super Bowl champions Philadelphia Eagles, who have used it to devastating effect in the past three seasons. ESPN data shows that the play has worked 87% of the time for the Eagles and the Bills. The play has been used 163 times in the last three seasons, primarily by two teams, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Buffalo Bills.

Momentum has been building in recent days to get the play banned. Bills coach Sean McDermott advocated for banning the play, even though his team is the team to use the play the most after the Eagles. He raised player safety concerns in an interview at the owners' meeting on Monday. The proposal would have needed a supermajority of 75%, or 24 of the 32 teams, to have passed.

Any rule change proposals need to be submitted by an NFL team. The Green Bay Packers were the team to propose this rule change. They had to witness the play first-hand in their first-round playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

The play has been reviewed by the competition committee for the past three off-seasons, but this was the first time the proposal has been up for a vote.

This latest development would likely indicate that the NFL and the competition committee will mull over the proposal first, likely taking the time to do more in-depth studies. The teams would then come together to vote at a later time.

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The tush push play has been stirring up controversy since 2022

The play, commonly known as the tush push, has been controversial since the Eagles started using it in 2022. Two or three players would line up behind the quarterback and push him forward the moment the ball is snapped.

The play is almost unstoppable when run by the Eagles in short-yardage situations. They may also be uniquely qualified to run the play with the strength of quarterback Jalen Hurts and running back Saquon Barkley. Last season, they used the play 48 times, and it was successful 39 of those times. In the nine times it did not work, they ran it again in the next play, and it then got the desired results in eight of those attempts.