PALM BEACH, Fla. – There will be no change to the Tush Push rule. Not yet anyway.
NFL owners voted on Tuesday to table the decision on whether to ban the play that the Philadelphia Eagles and, to a lesser extent, the Buffalo Bills, have made so successful.
“There was a lot of discussion,” said competition committee co-chair Rich McKay. “A lot of teams had a lot of views.”
Reportedly 16 of the 32 teams were in favor of the ban. Twenty-four votes are needed for a rule to pass.
The rule will likely be discussed further when owners meet again in May. One possibility is revisiting the long-standing rule that was deleted in 2004 that preventing pushing or pulling teammates anywhere on the field. That rule was eliminated because it was difficult for officials to determine if blockers downfield were blocking opponents or pushing a teammate.
Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon wouldn’t get specific on his thoughts about the play, other than to say “Nick (Sirianni) knows where I stand on it,” referring to Philadelphia’s coach and his former boss.
“There are a lot of smart people in that room,” Gannon said of the debate, “and there are good valid points on both sides of the coin.”
The owners did approve making the dynamic kickoff permanent in the game after it’s one-year trial, although the rule was tweaked to make touchbacks come out to the 35-yard line in an effort to discourage deep kicks and create more returns.
Also passing were additional replay assist for certain plays (but only to pick up a flag and not to call a previously uncalled penalty) and the use of the playoff overtime rules in the regular season.
