Matt LaFleur's team fought to ban the "tush push." Now, the Green Bay Packers must find a way to stop the Philadelphia Eagles' unstoppable short-yardage weapon.
Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur doesn't want to talk about the Philadelphia Eagles' "secret weapon".
You can understand why, too. LaFleur and the Packers were vocal detractors of the Eagles' most efficient play this past offseason, which has become known as "the tush push".
Love it or hate it...whether you think it's an illegal play or not... you can't deny that Jalen Hurts and the Eagles have that thing down to a science.
The Packers tried to get the play banned this past offseason, citing player safety as well as style of play and competitive balance. The argument was that the play is too rugby-eque, and that it was dangerous for the players in the middle of the formation who were facing forces from the defense in front of them, as well as from their own players pushing behind them.
Plus, there seem to be a whole slew of penalties committed on the play by the offensive line. From "offsides" by the center to false starts from just about everyone else. There's also, whatever the heck happened (or didn't happen) here:
In their proposal, the Packers asked the league owners to ban any pushing or pulling of the ball-carrier anywhere on the field.
"Offensive players cannot assist the runner except by individually blocking opponents for him," the updated proposal stated.
The ban didn't go through, and now, LaFleur and the Pack must face off with it again.
"I'm not going to get into it," LaFleur said on Thursday when asked to give his opinion on the play, per ESPN's Rob Demovsky. "It is what it is. The NFL made a decision, and we have to find a way to try to stop the play, and it's a tough play to stop."
LaFleur may not want to divulge his true thoughts on the play, but he's absolutely correct in saying that he and defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley will have to figure out how to stop it this week.
This is the play the Eagles are going to go to in every short-yardage situation. If they get down into the red zone and down near the goal line, you can bet they're going to use all 223 pounds of Hurts to get into the end zone.
If it doesn't work the first time, they'll try it again. And again. And again.
Throw that on top of the potential of Saquon Barkley busting out for a touchdown run any time he touches the football and it's clear that the Eagles will pose a tremendous threat to the Packers on Monday Night Football in Week 10.
That's not even mentioning A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith or Dallas Goedert.
It all starts and ends with that darn "tush push" though. That's where the Eagles find a way to impose their will and make a statement. They've used the play well over 100 times since 2022. They've used it 21 times so far this season, with a conversion rate of 76.5%
LaFleur may not want to face it, but at the end of the day, it's inevitable. The Pack now have to figure out how to beat it, because it certainly feels like their Super Bowl contender aspirations are on the line this week.
"You can't allow them in those short-yardage situations because you know exactly what they're going to do," LaFleur said. "And they've been pretty successful at it obviously."