The Packers were one of the NFL’s driving forces behind the league’s efforts to ban the Philadelphia Eagles’ tush-push, and it doesn’t sound like head coach Matt LaFleur’s opinion on the play has changed much ahead of Monday night’s showdown against the defending Super Bowl champions.
How often the Eagles opt to run the short-yardage play that has become a hallmark of head coach Nick Sirianni’s offense will be one of the storylines to watch on Monday night, but LaFleur sounds just about fed up with talking about it.
Packers’ Matt LaFleur sounds off on Eagles’ tush-push
Sep 28, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur looks on during the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Ahead of Monday night, LaFleur revealed his thoughts on the Eagles’ controversial play.
“The NFL made a decision, and we have to find a way to try to stop the play and it’s a tough play to stop,” LaFleur told reporters. “The best way to stop it is to not to allow it to happen. … You can’t allow them in those short-yardage situations because you know exactly what they’re going to do, and they’ve been pretty successful at it, obviously.”
LaFleur echoed the sentiments of some executives across the league this past offseason, who suggested that the best way to prevent the tush-push, was from preventing the Eagles from getting into short-yardage situations on third and fourth downs.
“Play better defense on first, second, and third down,” an NFL executive told Between The Hashmarks. “It’s simple. Win the line of scrimmage. You aren’t running the tush push on 3rd-and-10 or 4th-and-5, right?”
Green Bay’s and the NFL’s efforts to ban the play failed, so now the Packers’ chances of knocking off the Eagles may depend on stopping Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and Philadelphia’s offense on early downs before being forced into figuring out how to defend the tush push in a big game.
Sep 4, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; The Philadelphia Eagles execute a tush push for a first down against the Dallas Cowboys during the fourth quarter of the game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images