Current:Home > MarketsStop whining about Eagles' 'Brotherly Shove.' It's beautiful. Put it in the Louvre. -LegacyCapital
Stop whining about Eagles' 'Brotherly Shove.' It's beautiful. Put it in the Louvre.
NovaQuant Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-08 16:00:33
Rarely in the history of the NFL has such a simple and smart play caused so much consternation, examination and whining. Seriously, it's time for everyone to shut up and stop complaining about the Brotherly Shove.
Yes, I'm telling you to shut up as I write about it. What I mainly mean is there seems to a large swath of the league ecosystem looking down its nose at the play. Like it's that uncle who comes to the barbecue and drinks too much. Or, others in the NFL who want it banned, only because they can't stop it.
The play is actually a genius coaching tactic that takes advantage of the best offensive line in football and a brilliant quarterback who can bench small cars. Check that. Big cars.
Some people actually get what the play is. It's a cheat code. A really good one.
"The Eagles have the best offensive line in football, so yes it’s a cheat code," Cowboys defensive star Micah Parsons told Bleacher Report. "They’re unstoppable at it. They have a quarterback who is squatting 600 and knows how to move his legs. So yes, it’s OD. We just have to deal with it. We have to adjust, we have to prepare to stop it."
NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.
Parsons understands but others apparently don't. There's been constant complaining about it from all parts of the NFL world. From fans. From ex-game officials. From others. If your team was doing it, you would love it. But it's not so people complain.
"I think the league is going to look at this, and I’d be shocked if they don’t make a change," said Dean Blandino, a rules analyst for Fox Sports and The 33rd Team, in February.
Blandino, the league's vice president of officiating from 2013 to 2017, added this: "It amounts to a rugby scrum. The NFL wants to showcase the athleticism and skill of our athletes. This is just not a skillful play. This is just a tactic that is not an aesthetically pleasing play, and I think the competition committee is going to take a look at it."
What the NFL wants to showcase are teams that win and the Eagles are 5-0. They are unbeaten because of a great pass thrower, talent across the roster, and a coaching staff that knows how to deploy that talent. But also in part because of the Brotherly Shove. It is the special forces of offensive plays.
It is a tactic. That's true. But so is a screen pass. Or a running play. Football is full of "tactics." Some work. Some do not. Not all are pleasing to the eye. Football isn't played in the Louvre. But put this play in there.
Brotherly Shove: Undefeated Eagles plan to run successful play as long as it's legal
ESPN's Adam Schefter, the information guru, reported on Sunday that the NFL and NFLPA plan to examine all of the injury data related to the play. However, there's no indication the play causes excessive injury risk. It's possible the play might and we just don't know it yet. There were two New York Giants players injured on a failed such sneak but that wasn't about the play being dangerous; it was because the Eagles have spent years doing it, practicing it, and using their unique personnel to execute it. And by the way, the Giants coach admitted the team didn't practice the play before using it.
If you're unfamiliar with the Brotherly Shove, it's also commonly called the "Tush Push." It's a variation of the quarterback sneak where two players line up behind the quarterback and literally push his backside forward. Again, this play isn't as simple as some make it out to be. That's why Giants players got hurt on it. It does require some skill and practice. It's the football equivalent of deadlifting. You can be strong but it really helps to have technique as well.
If it's banned, it will be only because teams don't know how to stop it (yet), or because they can't replicate it as skillfully as the Eagles do (yet), or perhaps both.
I'm also highly suspicious of talk about the league doing things for player safety, when the NFL plays games on fields that aren't safe.
To me, so much of this smacks of pettiness and jealously. There may be people genuinely concerned about safety issues but this seems more about what Blandino said. How some in the league don't like how it looks. An even bigger reason is that teams can't do it as effectively as Philadelphia does and they want it gone because of that.
I'd want it gone, too, if I had to play against it. It's a huge force right now. The Eagles used the play several times against the Rams on Sunday and even with one of the best interior linemen of all time in Aaron Donald trying to stop it, the Rams, like other teams, were completely helpless.
The Eagles have crafted a huge advantage. Good for them.
Don't whine. Don't ban it. Figure out a way to stop it.
veryGood! (42)
Related
- The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
- NFL Pick 6 record: Cowboys' DaRon Bland ties mark, nears NFL history
- Graham Mertz injury update: Florida QB suffers collarbone fracture against Missouri
- Online abuse of politically active Afghan women tripled after Taliban takeover, rights group reports
- 'Stranger Things' prequel 'The First Shadow' is headed to Broadway
- Want to save money for Thanksgiving? Here are some ideas for a cheaper holiday dinner
- Mariah Carey's Holiday Tour Merch Is All We Want for Christmas
- Russell Brand interviewed by British police amid claims of sexual assault, reports say
- North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
- School district and The Satanic Temple reach agreement in lawsuit over After School Satan Club
Ranking
- Michigan lawmaker who was arrested in June loses reelection bid in Republican primary
- More than 400,000 Afghans have returned home from Pakistan following crackdown on migrants
- Blocked from a horizontal route, rescuers will dig vertically to reach 41 trapped in India tunnel
- Carlton Pearson, founder of Oklahoma megachurch who supported gay rights, dies at age 70
- Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
- Albanese criticizes China over warship’s use of sonar that injured an Australian naval diver
- Mariah Carey's Holiday Tour Merch Is All We Want for Christmas
- How America's oldest newlyweds found love at 96
Recommendation
The Best Stocking Stuffers Under $25
Support pours in after death of former first lady Rosalynn Carter
College football Week 12 winners and losers: Georgia dominates, USC ends with flop
Syracuse fires football coach Dino Babers after eight seasons
Billy Bean was an LGBTQ advocate and one of baseball's great heroes
The U.S. has a controversial plan to store carbon dioxide under the nation's forests
3rd release of treated water from Japan’s damaged Fukushima nuclear plant ends safely, operator says
BaubleBar’s Black Friday Sale Is Finally Here—Save 30% Off Sitewide and Other Unbelievable Jewelry Deals