Al Michaels frustration, another missed call should end Eagles tush push forever

Surprise, surprise, the Philadelphia Eagles were on national television on Thursday night and the so-called tush push became the talking point. The Eagles practically begged for the controversial play to take center stage. They ran it four times in a row en route to a second-quarter touchdown against the New York Giants.

Giants fans booed them roundly while fans on social media immediately noticed something fishy — the same thing everyone notices practically every time the Eagles run the play. Philadelphia's guards false started before Jalen Hurts converted the second of those four pushes on a fourth-and-short. The refs didn't notice it.

The broadcast team of Kirk Herbstreit and Al Michaels tried to hide their disdain for the sequence but they could only do so much. Michaels' call of the score was about as monotone as you could get.

"Crowd hates it. Eagles love it. Touchdown."

Here's the full sequence:

I don't blame the Eagles for running the play. If it works, it works. Their job is to score touchdowns and the tush push does that for them. That doesn't mean the rest of us can't grumble about how annoying it is.

Al Michaels voiced the frustrations of defenses and fans watching the tush push

Even Michaels sounded deflated as he said, "That's frustrating as hell for the defense there."

It's frustrating as hell for everyone who isn't wearing Eagles green.

It's especially annoying because the NFL doesn't need to ban the play to give defenses a chance to stop the Eagles. They just need to try calling false starts when they happen. Like on that fourth-and-1.

The tush push is effective from one, maybe two yards out. If a flag was thrown and the Eagles faced a fourth-and-6, it's no longer on the table. It's really that simple.

Unfortunately, just as the refs seemed committed to ignoring the Chiefs' tackle Juwan Taylor jumping early all the time, the officials are just as blind to this consistent issue with the tush push.

The Eagles aren't helping keep the tush push from being banned

Then again, the Eagles might have played themselves this time. It's one thing to successfully run the tush push a couple of times to the annoyance of the audience. But four times?! In a row?! Even people who had been defenders of the play in the past were calling it too much this time around. It's a terrible viewing experience.

There's an inevitability to all of this. The Eagles should enjoy this while it lasts because sentiment towards the tush push is only going to get more negative, especially if they keep flaunting in everyone's face that it's a guaranteed yard every time.