Haters of the Philadelphia Eagles' patented "tush push" play finally have reason to celebrate. The NFL admitted the Eagles should've been penalized for at least one false start against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2 specifically on the tush push. ESPN confirmed the news first reported by the Washington Post on Thursday.
The Eagles commit about 5 penalties during a Tush Push, and the NFL just doesn’t call them.
— Chris Bryant (@HogfarmerChris) September 14, 2025
Center is offsides, guards false start.
Ban the play. pic.twitter.com/ffukdCEj7Q
In its training videos sent to referees and all 32 teams, the league instructed officials to call that play "tight" moving forward. The specific instance that was most blatant to the league was a third-and-short situation in the fourth quarter that Philadelphia converted and eventually led to it winning the game.
"Anytime we have this situation we're in short yardage, we know we want to make sure that we officiate these plays -- the offensive team has to be perfect in every aspect," NFL vice president of officiating training and development Ramon George said in the tape, per the Post. "We want to officiate it tight. We want to be black and white and be as tight as we can be when we get into this situation where teams are in the bunch position and we have to officiate them being onsides, movement early."
NFL could finally ban the tush push without banning the tush push
If the NFL is serious about policing the tush push for the very reasons fans have been crying about for years, then a formal ban of the play may not be needed after all. If it's penalized enough, the Eagles may just naturally phase it out of their playbook.
Eventually the play will become less effective, especially if it results in a five-yard penalty more times than not. That would increase risk on third-and-short or fourth-and-short situations where head coach Nick Sirianni would have to think twice about it.
In Week 2, the Eagles ran the play six times. They converted four first downs and scored a touchdown. If that conversion rate comes down even by one or two attempts, that's enough to get a team to reconsider a play that was automatic in those situations.
Of course, Philadelphia players are objecting to the scrutiny.
"I've heard a million different takes on this thing, and it's driving me nuts," Eagles center Cam Jurgens said Wednesday. "People saying I'm lining up offsides. I'm holding the ball. I can be on the ball. That doesn't make any sense to me."
Well, rules are rules and the NFL seems to finally be enforcing them. The Eagles will just have to adapt like the rest of the league had to with the play's inception and success.