NFL owners have made a ruling on the Philadelphia Eagles‘ famous “Tush Push” play.
The Eagles will continue to use the play in 2025 after owners ended up two votes short in a vote to ban the play on Wednesday. The final tally was 22 votes in favor of a ban and 10 against (a potential ban needed 24 votes to pass).
This ruling is notable to the Denver Broncos for two reasons. The first reason is that they are scheduled to go on the road to face the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday, Oct. 5 in Week 5 of the 2025 NFL season (view the full schedule).
The Broncos have one of the best defenses in the NFL, but Philadelphia has perfected a nearly unstoppable short-yardage play. Primarily using the tush push, the Eagles went 19-of-26 on fourth-down attempts (73.1%) in 2023. Last year, Philly converted 28-of-34 of tush push attempts. Quite an impressive record of success.
The second reason is that the proposed rule called for banning any pushing or pulling of a teammate by offensive players. Remember when guard Dalton Risner swung running back Phillip Lindsay into the end zone?
That would have been a penalty under the proposed ban.
Last season, running back Javonte Williams was pushed into the end zone by a host of teammates:
That kind of play wouldn’t be allowed, either.
Those kinds of plays will remain legal for at least the 2025 season, though, as the tush push ban failed. The topic will undoubtedly be revisited in 2026.
Denver is considered an early 4.5-point underdog against the Eagles in Week 5. Philly is entering the 2025 season as the NFL’s defending Super Bowl champion. The Broncos got knocked out of the playoffs in the Wild Card round last season after reaching the postseason for the first time since 2015.
Related: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.