For a man who sits on the NFL’s competition committee, Mike Tomlin’s thoughts on rule-change proposals carry plenty of weight. Between questions about Aaron Rodgers and what the Pittsburgh Steelers need, Tomlin offered leaguewide thoughts on potential changes, including the Tush Push, to be voted on during this week’s slate of owner meetings.
The headliner is the Tush Push. Exact language is unclear, but one proposal would effectively ban the play, preventing the “push” from players behind the line of scrimmage to vault a quarterback forward. The Philadelphia Eagles have perfected the play to near 100-percent success. The rest of the league has struggled to copy it.
For Tomlin, the discussion isn’t about the on-field viability but the potential risk of injury even if the concern is currently theoretical.
“There’s not a big enough sample size to point to the statistics,” Tomlin said via the team website of the lack of injuries on the play. “But I and everyone else are just listening to the perspective of the medical experts as opposed to statistics. Because it’s just not a large enough sample size in terms of the number of time the play has been executed, whether it’s 2024 or just in general. A lot of other plays we got a much larger volume to choose from. 40,000 plays a year in football. I think it was 170 or so Tush Pushes, to put perspective on it.”
A play that looks more rugby than football, the massive pile it creates is a worry over injury. Still, Tomlin is hesitant to call for a ban.
“You hate to be against it because you know when people are innovative, you wanna respect that,” he said. “And so there’s certainly been some teams that have been more innovative than the rest of us in that regard and you hate to penalize them for it.”
Tomlin’s past comments on the Tush Push have been mixed. Last year, he was reportedly one of the few to question the play (likely stemming from his defensive background). Ahead of facing the Eagles in 2024, he noted the best way to stop the Tush Push was to avoid being in a position to face it. That plan didn’t work in an ugly loss.
It seems like a coin flip if the ban will be passed. Reports indicate there’s a groundswell of support but teams like the Eagles and others who utilize the play will likely vote against the measure. It could lead to a close vote.
Elsewhere, the Detroit Lions proposed a change to playoff seeding that would rank teams by record instead of divisional winners getting a top-four spot even with a worse record compared to a Wild Card team.
“I’m a division purist to be quite honest with you,” Tomlin said, rejecting the proposal. “I love the rivalries that is division play. I love the structure of our scheduling that highlights it. I just categorize myself as a division purist. I think the division winner should get a playoff game and a home playoff game.”
The case against Tomlin is knowing an eight-win division winner receives a higher seed than say, a 14-win team that finished second in its division as the Minnesota Vikings did in 2024. But a change to a conference-based, NBA-style of seeding would water down the impact of winning the division and the rivalries that coincide with that pursuit. The proposal seems unlikely to pass.
Rule proposals will be voted on last this week.
Recommended for you