Why don't all teams use the unstoppable tush push? Do Eagles have a 'secret ingredient'?

THE ATLANTA FALCONS, protecting a 7-3 lead, faced a fourth-and-1 astatine the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 47 with 9:03 near successful the archetypal fractional of their Week 1 matchup.

For the Philadelphia Eagles, the playcall would person been automatic: the tush push. And the effect would person been astir automatic: a archetypal down. They've converted the play 96.6% of the clip successful fourth-and-1 scenarios since 2022. It has go truthful unstoppable that astir two-thirds of NFL teams voted to prohibition it.

But Falcons manager Raheem Morris is nary instrumentality of the tush push, questioning its legality and wanting it banned. So instead, helium called for a handoff to prima moving backmost Bijan Robinson, who was stopped for nary gain. The Bucs scored connected the ensuing possession en way to a 23-20 NFC South victory.

"There's conscionable nary different play successful our crippled wherever you tin perfectly get down idiosyncratic and propulsion them," Morris said. "I ne'er truly understood it, wherefore that was legal. So, I've decidedly been 1 of those guys voting against that."

Morris is not unsocial successful his skepticism. Only 9 teams person tally the play 10 oregon much times since 2022. Four teams -- the New Orleans Saints, Washington Commanders, Carolina Panthers and Miami Dolphins -- person ne'er attempted one.

Even the Indianapolis Colts nether Shane Steichen, who was astatine the forefront of implementing the play erstwhile helium was with the Eagles, person attempted propulsion plays conscionable 3 times since helium was hired successful Indianapolis successful 2023. None of those attempts produced a archetypal down.

The play is arsenic elemental arsenic it is effective. At a basal level for the Eagles, it involves backmost Jalen Hurts taking the drawback and diving guardant down a almighty violative enactment portion being pushed from down by teammates lined up successful the violative backfield.

The Eagles person attempted it 116 times since 2022, including six times successful Sunday's triumph implicit the Kansas City Chiefs. That tied for the astir attempts by the Eagles successful a azygous game. And it was juxtaposed against the Chiefs' nonaccomplishment connected a captious third-quarter fourth-and-1 play successful which moving backmost Kareem Hunt was stuffed aft a handoff.

The NFL is often described arsenic the eventual copycat league, truthful wherefore don't much teams effort to duplicate the Eagles' signature play? The league mean occurrence complaint for a fourth-and-1 non-tush play is 67.0% since 2022, portion the league mean for a tush propulsion is 84.8%. And the Eagles' complaint is astir 12 points higher, but the teams opposed to the play person a assortment of objections, including avoiding wounded hazard to quarterbacks oregon not having unit ideally ...