The Eagles and their fans lament a gut-wrenching Super Bowl loss. Could the NFL pile on?
ESPN commentator Steve Young, a Pro Football Hall of Fame QB, said the NFL competition committee might look at banning one of the Eagles staples, the QB push play. Former NFL linebacker Scott Shanle didn’t agree with Young’s point.
Per Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times, “There is a belief within the league that these types of push plays will be under scrutiny in the spring when teams propose and vote on potential rule changes.”
The Eagles were incredibly successful this season on QB sneaks in which Jalen Hurts lined up under center and received a push from players lined up behind him.
Per Mike Tanier, “The Eagles converted 29 first downs or touchdowns on 33 sneaks in the regular season, both figures highest on record.” (h/t Football Outsiders)
The concept resulted in a few big moments on Sunday against the Chiefs, including a conversion on a third-and-one near midfield as well as the Eagles’ first and last touchdowns.
Critics of the play argue it is more akin to a rugby scrum and potentially adds injury risk. As the Eagles showed this season, the reward is as significant as the risk.
Per Farmer, “For decades, NFL rules prohibited offensive players from directly aiding a runner in any way, whether it was pushing or pulling him.”
It remains illegal to pull a runner forward, but the league decided it was too difficult to decide when a push occurred so it scrapped that portion from the rulebook in 2006.
As clueless as referees are as to what a catch is, the fewer things the NFL leaves to their discretion might be for the better.
Per Farmer, former NFL director of officials Mike Pereira described why the change was made.
“What the league found was so difficult was you never were sure who was pushing who … You could be pushing someone else that’s in contact with the runner,” Pereira said.
No one wants there to be more subjectivity in NFL officiating, but there’s a big difference between blocking a defender into a ball carrier and pushing a ball carrier forward, which is what the Eagles perfected this season.
If changes come, it would only add salt to Philadelphia’s raw Super Bowl wound.
