The Philadelphia Eagles have terrorized team after team with one unstoppable play: the Tush Push (since affectionately renamed the Brotherly Shove).
The play was executed four times in the Eagles' win against the Dolphins, and it worked every time. Since Philly started employing the play, the Tush Push has a 93 percent success rate, widely heralded as the most effective and safest way to gain one yard.
Many of the league's best defenses have been unable to stop Jalen Hurts, Jason Kelce, and the Eagles' offensive line from sneaking the ball on key downs. Cleveland Browns Hall-of-Famer Joe Thomas recently gave his thoughts on how he would try to defend the infamous Tush Push.
Thomas laid out two ways to stop it: One, the defending team's linebackers need to push the tush of their defensive line in response to the offense's tush-pushing; Or two, the outside linebackers need to get around the edge and tackle the offensive players helping push Hurts' tush.
So many "tushes" in one sentence.
Browns Hall-of-Famer Joe Thomas lays out two ways to stop Eagles' QB sneak
Those two solutions may at least be worth a try for defenses set to face the Eagles this season.
So far in 2023, stars like Myles Garrett and Fred Warner have made some incredible acrobatic defensive plays that defy the laws of physics. One would think that one of those top defenders would have the best chance at defeating the Tush Push, but in reality, it seems like it has to be a team effort.
Of the two solutions Thomas proposes, the second certainly sounds intriguing. Earlier this season, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick made headlines for his unconventional special teams formation to block a Dolphins field goal, and something similar might work against Philly's stalwart offensive line.
Either way, it should be exciting to see what defensive coordinators cook up to try and stop the most successful offensive play in modern football.
