A play on Philadelphia’s “City of Brotherly Love” nickname, the “Brotherly Shove” – also known as “The Tush Push” – has become the NFL’s most talked about play.
With the playoffs underway and Philly struggling mightily in recent weeks, can the “Brotherly Shove” get the Eagles over the line against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday? Here’s all you need to know about the sport’s most unstoppable play.
What is the brotherly shove?
The “Tush Push” is the Eagles’ own version of the quarterback sneak and is brought out when Philadelphia finds itself in short-yard situations.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts drives forward with the football following the snap, as other members of the Eagles offense pile in, pushing all in the same direction to get Hurts over the first-down line.
‘The deflater’
“You know what’s coming and you can’t stop it. That’s the worst thing,” Brian Baldinger, who spent 11 years in the NFL as an offensive lineman and is now an analyst, explains to CNN Sport.
Last season, per The Athletic, the Eagles had a success rate of 93.5% when running the “Tush Push.” This year, the success rate remains well above 90% and the play is a staple of the Eagles offense.
Baldinger calls the play a “deflater” because of its dominance on the field. “They are broadcasting to you exactly what they are going to do and you are kind of helpless to stop it,” he said.
Star quarterback Hurts has rushed into the end zone a QB season-record 15 times – with a staggering 11 touchdowns coming from the “Tush Push.”
“So many games in this league are decided by a yard. You can’t gain a yard at the goal line or you get stopped in short yardage and you’ve got to give the ball back,” Baldinger adds.
“Games are being decided by [the ‘Tush Push’] and the Eagles are winning games because of it. They’ve won a lot of games over the last couple of years because they can make that yard.”
