The Philadelphia Eagles traveled to Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday and defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, 20-17, in a Super Bowl rematch.
Jalen Hurts and the defending champs once again used their turns push play to pick up a number of critical first downs during the win and while it remains a legal play, it left many fans upset as replay’s clearly show the Eagles getting away with false starts before the snap on a few of the plays.
FOX Sports’ NFL rules analyst Dean Blandino also seemed frustrated with the play.
“I am done with the tush push, guys,” Blandino said to Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady while looking at a replay. “It’s a hard play to officiate, like we’ve been talking about. So they either ruled progress or that Hurts was down. Really hard to see what’s happening with the football. We’re inside two (minutes) so replay has looked at this and they’ve determined that there was no fumble.”
Again, the play is legal and the Eagles have every right to run it. But it sure feels like opposing players, fans, and even the former NFL VP of Officiating are growing more tired of the tush push, as it makes it hard for officials to not only see pre-snap penalties but it is difficult to see where the ball should be spotted and, in one case during Sunday’s game, if a fumble had occurred.
It feels like chatter about the tush push is only going to pick up more steam as the season goes on.
The Eagles are now 2-0 on the year after beating the Cowboys and Chiefs to open their season. The Chiefs, meanwhile, are 0-2 for the first time in Patrick Mahomes’s career.
