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In a Super Bowl rematch at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, Philadelphia defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 20-17. The win can be partially credited to the now-infamous tush push play, which Philadelphia used seven times in the match. Though it is not illegal, many said that there were missed false start calls that went unpenalized.
The Eagles used the gameplay five times in the fourth quarter, consisting of a 1-0 yard touchdown by Jalen Hurts that gave them a 20-10 lead with eight minutes left. However, replays suggest that some of Philadelphia's offensive linemen looked to move early before the snap, including during Hurts' TD.
Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones discussed what he believed were missed calls by the officials.
“You can't get all the calls right,” Jones said. “Just because we see it, sometimes the official's 15, 20 feet away … sometimes you can miss those small things. We think he jumped multiple times. An official didn't see it, so it wasn't called. We gotta just go and play the next down.”
Tom Brady on Eagles’ tush push play
Fox Sports color commentator Tom Brady talked about how effective and controversial the tush push play has become.
“It’s like (the Eagles) start every position at 1st and 9 because they’re stealing a yard with that play every time,” Brady said on Sunday.
Fox Sports rule analyst Dean Blandino also expressed frustration late in the match after a tush push play, where it seemed like Hurts may have fumbled but was ruled down.
"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.”
Critics of the play have long argued that the style is both ugly and difficult to officiate. While a proposal to ban the gameplay was introduced by the Green Bay Packers in the offseason, it was two votes short.
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