Tush Push
Feb 9, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) lines up for the tush push play on the goal line against the Kansas City Chiefs during Super Bowl LIX at Ceasars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Popularized by the Philadelphia Eagles in recent years, the “tush push” remains one of the more controversial plays in the NFL. While attempts to ban the play failed ahead of the 2025 season, the NFL has clearly made officiating the play a point of emphasis.
Throughout the first two weeks of the season, the NFL has called a number of offensive offside penalties on tush push-style plays throughout the league, and it seems like those penalties aren’t going to go away.
NFL Issues a Warning
Ahead of the Week 3 games that begin on Thursday night, the NFL sent a video to all 32 teams warning that teams can and will be called for offensive offside if they are not lined up properly on tush push plays.
NFL officiating and rules analyst Walt Anderson used a recent example of a penalty called on the Seattle Seahawks to illustrate how officials will officiate the play.
“We have covered this before, but clubs are reminded on both sides of the ball to line up properly on these push plays,” Anderson said.
Here’s a clip from the latest officiating video sent to clubs and coaches ahead of Week 3. pic.twitter.com/GhE11xUsz9
— Troy Vincent, Sr. (@TroyVincentSr) September 24, 2026
“Here, this hand is clearly offside, this head is clearly offside, as is the right hand of the tight end,” Anderson said.
By contrast, Anderson highlighted the left side of the offensive line, which he said was “clearly aligned legally.”
“Everybody is behind the ball – guard, tackle, and tight end,” Anderson said. “That side of the line is legal, the other side is illegal.”
In the past, teams might have been able to get away with a slight mistake like this, but it’s clearly become a point of emphasis.
‘Difficult to officiate’
Ever since the Philadelphia Eagles began utilizing the tush push successfully a few years ago, it has been the source of a lot of debate and conversation, with Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent saying last year that it is “very difficult to officiate in real time”
“When the guard is in the neutral zone or someone else is in the neutral zone, it’s really hard for that line judge to identify based on what he’s looking at down the line of scrimmage,” Vincent said at the league’s fall meeting last year via ESPN. “At the end of the day, there’s a team that still does it well. And we’ve seen other people have versions of it. But from an officiating standpoint, we’re going to try to get better at identifying when someone is in the neutral zone or when someone leaves a little early.”
Attempts to ban the play have been unsuccessful thus far, so it seems like the league’s best course of action is ensuring it’s officiated correctly.
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