Baltimore Ravens help keep the NFL from making a big mistake during Tush Push voting, and they may cash in on it in their unique way in 2025

For at least one more year, the hotly contested debate around the merit of the “Tush Push” made famous by the Philadelphia Eagles will rage on. The vote is in at this week’s NFL Owners Meeting and the proposal to ban the short-yardage play fell 2 votes short of the necessary 24 needed to kill the play. The Baltimore Ravens had a direct hand in the fate of the play.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter has reported the full list of teams that voted against banning the “Tush Push” and the Baltimore Ravens were among those who cast their vote to keep the play legal for 2025. Some teams, such as the Eagles themselves and the New York Jets, who boast a quarterback similarly built to shoulder the execution of the play in Justin Fields, were not a surprise with their opinion on the matter.

The Ravens, on the other hand, haven’t really leaned into putting Lamar Jackson under center to serve as a pinball in a rugby scrum. But they have dabbled into the mechanics of the play in their own unique way. As such, it should not be a big surprise to see the team voted in favor of the play when you consider the success the Ravens have had with it.

The twist for the Ravens is that their push plays come with a tight end behind center — not with the quarterback. The Ravens ran five short-yardage attempts with a tight end behind center in 2024, four with Mark Andrews and one with Charlie Kolar. Baltimore converted four of those five attempts on the season for a fresh set of downs.

In years past, Baltimore has shown an appetite to motion Andrews into an under-center alignment and sneak him without the push mechanics of the play. Andrews converted three of four short-yardage rush attempts between the 2022 and 2023 seasons, giving the Ravens a total of seven conversions on nine attempts with tight ends handling the center exchange over the past three years.

But Derrick Henry’s addition as a powerful frame behind the snap to help push and the popularity of the play design certainly didn’t hurt the Ravens’ opportunities to replicate the Eagles’ success this past year. And, because they have had these bright flashes of short-yardage efficiency, the Ravens will sit on the winning side of the vote in this year’s effort to disband the play.

With the proof of concept that the Ravens have the muscle to formulate their own version of the play and the appetite to keep it in the fray, the question now simply becomes how often do the Ravens call upon their Tush Push variation in short yardage situations in 2025? With an 80% success rate, one would have to imagine it will be a tempting hand to play when the going gets tough and the tough need a yard.