Tush Push
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Eagles offensive lineman Jordan Mailata took issue with naysayers of the Brotherly Shove play.
Jordan Mailata is tired of hearing from naysayers about the Philadelphia Eagles‘ now-signature play.
The Eagles left tackle went off on detractors of the rugby-style play during an appearance on the Philadelphia sports-talk radio station WIP on Tuesday.
After eschewing the Brotherly Shove for most of their season-opening win over the Dallas Cowboys, the Eagles took advantage of the play by getting four first downs and scoring on Jalen Hurts’ one-yard run while running the play six times in their 20-17 win against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
The Eagles-Chiefs game was the most watched regular-season on FOX, with an average of almost 34 million viewers.
What Did Jordan Mailata Say About The Tush Push?
The play has become one of the most controversial subjects in the NFL — it has been a topic of off-season meetings in each of the past two years and nearly was outlawed this past off-season.
Still, Mailata took issue with the notion that the Eagles only win because they can execute the Brotherly Shove on second-, third- and fourth-and-short plays.
“I understand the outrage [over the play],” Mailata said on WIP. “What I don’t understand is them using it as an excuse to why we won the game. I think it’s incredibly disrespectful to our defense and our special teams who balled out, and my brothers on defense and special teams who balled out that game, who had our backs when we weren’t moving the ball or weren’t doing anything.
“I just think it’s rubbish. Absolute rubbish, man. It makes my blood boil just thinking about it.”
To Mailata’s point, the Eagles defense limited Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to just 294 yards and forced Mahomes into an interception while KC was driving to potentially take the lead in the fourth quarter.
Hurts scored on a Brotherly Shove on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line on the ensuing drive — after failing to score on the same play on third-and-goal the play prior — to take what ended up being an insurmountable 10-point lead.
“That pisses me off because we give so much to this game and to kind of base off a short-yardage play, that is a football play, and say how that we won the game off that,” Mailata said, “but not how our defense played and not how our special teams have played, putting us in those positions. You know I think it’s bull crap.”
Why Did The Eagles Win?
Further to Mailata’s point, the difference in the game ended up being the turnover battle and special teams for the second straight week.
Harrison Butker missed a 58-yard field goal in the first quarter that would have given the Chiefs the lead. Conversely, Jake Elliott made a 58-yard attempt right before halftime, which ultimately was the difference in the game.
The Eagles played a clean game by not turning the ball over for the second straight week. Philadelphia has a plus-2 turnover rate through two weeks and are one of just six teams without a turnover in its first two games — five of those teams are 2-0, and only the Washington Commanders are not.