You can call it the "tush push" or the "brotherly shove," but no matter the nickname, the Philadelphia Eagles' short-yardage quarterback sneak has become one of the most unstoppable and most-discussed plays in football. The Kansas City Chiefs went up against it in Super Bowl LVII, and now they're preparing for it again ahead of their Monday Night Football matchup with the Eagles.
During the Chiefs' press conferences this week, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnulo, defensive line coach Joe Cullen, and defensive tackle Chris Jones all sounded off on how the team plans to stop the shove — or even better, how to avoid short-yardage situations altogether.
Jones was asked about the challenge during his presser on Thursday, and he said the team would have to find a solution somehow.
"They haven't been stopped all year," Jones said. "I think the one that did get stopped on was Washington, when they fumbled the ball, so, I don't know, man. We just gonna have to... I don't know, honestly. Have to figure something out, but they're so good at it, and it's a rugby-style play. Unfortunately, we haven't watched any rugby-style-of-play of defense yet, but we'll figure something out."
Spagnuolo laughed when he was asked if the Chiefs had any particular beat on stopping the shove, before also referring to the Commanders' stop that Jones mentioned.
"I'll get back to you on that," Spagnuolo said after a chuckle. "I think Washington had one play where they actually did a pretty good job and I think it might've been a stop, then they went for it on fourth. That's the thing, if you stop on 3rd-and-1 for half a yard, they come right back on fourth down and you gotta do it again. Listen, we'll try to be as stout in there as we can, I don't have any secrets on it, I wish I did. The best thing we can do is try and not to be in those situations. It's why I'm going back to first- and second-down."
First- and second-down success would take the Eagles out of range for third- and fourth-down sneaks, but the Chiefs are certainly planning to be tested in short-yardage at some point on Monday night. Asked if the defense was able to practice for that play in particular, Spagnuolo noted that the NFL's modern practice rules mean the preparation needs to be more mental than physical.
"There's a little bit of trust involved," Spagnuolo said. "I mean, look, we cannot simulate that in practice. You've gotta be full-padded and be doing that, and we don't practice, nobody in the league practices that way now. So it's more of an assignment thing, we're talking to guys about 'maybe we could do this,' trying to steal things that're on tape that we thought were pretty good, but it's a mano a mano deal, right? They're pushing us, we try to push them back."
Cullen, in his second year as the Chiefs' defensive line coach and 17th year in the NFL, took a similar approach and cracked a joke before discussing KC's plans in the trenches, referring back to how the Chiefs performed against the shove in the Super Bowl.
"If anyone has any new ideas, let me know," Cullen said with a grin. "But no, that's something we've really talked about after that game (Super Bowl LVII) and Coach Spags over the offseason, and just being able to get a little bit lower, do a few things that maybe will help it ... It's about stopping it with leverage and people being able to get the quarterback, because the extra push and the second push is really what gets you, but we're gonna try to do everything we can to try to keep them out of those situations. Let's get 'em 3rd-and-long."
Then, the veteran defensive coach was asked if the push-assisted shove should be a legal play in the NFL.
"I know this: it's a legal play, so we're gonna coach against it and, to me, we have to get ready for anything," Cullen said. "If it's legal, we're getting ready for it."
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