The Green Bay Packers were eliminated from the NFL playoffs by the Philadelphia Eagles in the wild-card round in January. It didn’t take long for the Packers to seek revenge for that loss.
Green Bay proposed a rule change that would effectively kill the “tush push,” the league’s Football Operations department revealed Wednesday. The Packers’ proposal is one of three the NFL will debate during its annual league meeting, which will take place between March 30 and April 2. These rule changes are just proposals for now, and will not officially go into effect unless approved.
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The Packers’ actual proposal does not include the term “tush push,” but instead aims to change the language of an already established rule.
The proposal would seek to penalize any offensive player “from pushing a teammate who was lined up directly behind the snapper and receives the snap, immediately at the snap.”
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That perfectly describes the “tush push,” a modified quarterback sneak popularized by the Eagles during the 2022 season. The Eagles lean on the play heavily on crucial third and fourth downs, and are often successful in picking up first downs when running it.
A part of what makes the play successful — in addition to Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts’ immense leg strength — is the extra push Hurts receives from the players lined up in the backfield. They give him added momentum to get the ball over the first-down marker.
It’s not the first time the play has come under scrutiny. During the 2023 NFL season, there were reports commissioner Roger Goodell wanted to eliminate the “tush push” from the game. That did not happen, though the league said it would continue to monitor the play and potentially take action if it found the “tush push” led to more injuries. Despite continued debate over the play last offseason, the league did not consider a rule change on the “tush push” at its annual meeting last season.
Other teams have adopted the “tush push” since the Eagles first introduced the play, but the Eagles popularized the play and still use it to great success. Given the team’s Super Bowl LIX win in February, the Eagles, and their most-notorious play, are top of mind as teams prepare for the 2025 season.
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In addition to the “tush push” proposal, the NFL will also debate eliminating automatic first downs for defensive holding and illegal contact penalties. That proposal was put forward by the Detroit Lions.
The league will also discuss whether to allow both teams to have possessions in overtime, regardless of the outcome of the first possession. Under current NFL rules, both teams have a chance to possess the ball in overtime during the playoffs and Super Bowl. During the regular season, the team that possesses the ball first in overtime can end the game with a touchdown. The Eagles are proposing the league adopt the two-possession approach for both the playoffs and the regular season.
Lions want better seeding for wild-card teams
The Lions are also proposing two bylaw changes for the upcoming season. One of the proposals deals with the timing of players being placed on the reserve/inactive list. The more impactful proposal for fans deals with restructuring how the playoffs are seeded.
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The Lions are seeking to change the current playoff seeding structure to allow wild-card teams with better records than division champions to be seeded higher in the playoffs.
This proposal would have drastically affected the playoffs last season had it been in place. Despite finishing 14-3, the Minnesota Vikings were the fifth seed in the NFL playoffs. As a result, the team had to go on the road to play the Los Angeles Rams, despite the Rams finishing the regular season with a 10-7 record. The Rams won 27-9, eliminating the Vikings from the playoffs.
The same thing happened to the Green Bay Packers, who won 11 games in the regular season, but were relegated to the seventh seed in the playoffs. Despite finishing the regular season with a better record than the Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Packers had to go on the road to face the No. 2 seed Eagles, who won 22-10.
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The elimination of the “tush push” would likely provoke the biggest reaction from players around the league, though the playoff-reseeding proposal from the Lions could have the biggest impact on the NFL if adopted.
Whether any of those rule changes or bylaw proposals get adopted by the league in 2025 will be determined at its annual meeting, which starts March 30.
