Not much is working for the New York Giants these days. On their opening drive in Monday night’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks, they chose to go for it on 4th-and-1 on the Seattle 36.
It didn’t work. The ‘tush push’ — a play where the quarterback keeps the ball and is pushed from behind by teammates to create more momentum — went nowhere.
In fact, it was a double negative. The Giants gave the ball up on downs and lost two key players — center John Michael Schmitz (shoulder) and tight end Daniel Bellinger (knee) — for the remainder of the game to injuries.
The Giants’ version of the Philly Tush Push included three guys in the backfield ready to shove Daniel Jones — including two offensive linemen.
There are like 800 pounds of pushers back there …
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano) October 3, 2023
“I just felt that was the right thing to do,” head coach Brian Daboll told reporters on Tuesday morning. “So, again, those are stuff that we talk about throughout the week, talked about it during the drive, right where we were at. Felt comfortable with the decision and felt comfortable with the play.”
The play has been a staple for the rival Philadelphia Eagles, who had success on 37 of 41 attempts last season and are back at it again this year after the league agreed to keep it legal.
The Giants, like many things they tried, couldn’t get it done on Monday night. They did manage to get those two key starters injured in the process as Daboll would later reveal.
‘They did a good job of stopping it,” he said. “So, got some penetration, built a wall and ended up stopping the play.”
Asked if it is a play the Giants work on in practice, Daboll admitted that it wasn’t.
“You walk through it, it’s not a live rep of practice, but we’ve been successful at it, just weren’t on that one,” he said.
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