Every team knows it’s coming, yet no one can stop it. The Eagles’ patented quarterback sneak, also known as the “Tush Push” or “Brotherly Shove,” is inevitable.
With a quarterback in Jalen Hurts who can squat 600 pounds and an offensive line that erases the guys across from them, it’s become one of the most unstoppable plays in the league over the last few years.
The Los Angeles Rams will be the next team that attempts to stop it on Sunday night when they host the 8-2 Eagles at SoFi Stadium. Sean McVay discussed that short-yardage chain-mover Wednesday after the Rams’ walkthrough and he explained some of the challenges that it presents.
“Where do you want me to start?” he said jokingly. “I think the biggest thing is just the momentum, the techniques, the fundamentals. Everybody tries to run it, but they do it at a little bit different clip. You hear people talk about [Eagles OL coach] Jeff Stoutland, is a guy who is one of the great coaches in this league. There’s an understanding of leverage angles, get-off, a rapport that’s been established, and they’ve been doing it for a long time. Obviously, Jalen [Hurts] has a great feel for being able to kind of ride that wave, if you will. There are a lot of challenges.”
The Rams didn’t have much success against the Tush Push last season in their 23-14 loss to the Eagles, struggling to come up with any answers for it. The Eagles converted on each of their first four attempts, including a 1-yard touchdown with 2 seconds left in the first half to take a 17-14 lead into halftime.
The Rams did stop the Eagles twice on consecutive plays late in the fourth quarter when the game was already decided, but even a 4-for-6 rate by Hurts on those plays is pretty darn good.
So what are the Rams going to do differently? McVay didn’t want to divulge too much but it starts with covering the caps. It’s also challenging because this time of year, the Rams are running more walk-throughs than traditional practices to limit the wear and tear on players’ bodies, so physical plays like that aren’t ideal.
“Yeah, you need to be able to cover those gaps and that situation arises in short-yardage and the tight red area,” he said. “Hopefully, you’re efficient enough that you don’t get to too many of those situations where it’s a big advantage for them and they’ve created that advantage. There are a lot of different things. I don’t want to get too far into it. The hard thing too is once you get at this point of the year to simulate what that would actually be like and some of those rugby scrum-type of settings, that’s difficult. It’s why they’re one of one. A lot of people try to emulate that, but they’re the ones that have done it at such a high level and it’s been really difficult for people to stop.”
What makes this a particularly tough play for the Rams is their lack of size up front. As effective as it is in typical situations, they have a smaller defensive line that can be susceptible to inside runs against bigger O-lines like the Eagles’.
Bobby Brown III and Tyler Davis might be the keys to stopping the Tush Push for the Rams, with Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske trying to use their leverage to hold up against Philly’s line.