The Detroit Lions have dropped their proposal to change the way the NFL seeds playoff teams after seeing a divisional rival forced to play against on the road in the postseason against a team with an inferior record.
The now-dead playoff proposal would have led to significant changes last season when Minnesota had to go on the road for a wild-card game against the Rams despite winning four more games than Los Angeles in the regular season. The Vikings would have hosted a game as the third seed under the proposal.
The Chargers also went on the road as a wild-card team against division-winning Houston despite having one additional win.
Under the abandoned proposal, the first tiebreaker among tied teams would have been based on winning the division.
And that’s not the only agenda item for NFL owners gathered in Minnesota. While the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles were going about their offseason business, NFL owners were prepared to vote on the controversial ‘tush push’ on Wednesday.
The Eagles, though, were hardly worried about an issue well beyond their control.
The now-dead playoff proposal would have led to significant changes last season when Minnesota had to go on the road for a Wild Card game against the Rams despite a better record
‘It’s only one yard,’ wide receiver A.J. Brown said nonchalantly during an interview session with reporters at Eagles headquarters on Tuesday.
Indeed, the plunges by strong-legged quarterback Jalen Hurts behind a powerful offensive line will continue regardless of whether a three-quarters majority is secured to pass the resolution. What the owners must decide is whether a teammate should be allowed to shove or tug him.
Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata sounded resigned and relaxed about the potential rule change when asked about it on Tuesday. He even said jokingly that he hoped for a ban because he hates the cheeky name of the play.
‘Worrying about whether they’re going to ban the tush push or not ain’t going to win us another championship,’ Mailata said.
After tabling the issue seven weeks ago, a vote was expected by Commissioner Roger Goodell on the issue that involves aesthetics, integrity and safety. The league released a revised proposal by the Green Bay Packers on Monday that broadened their original language to prohibit pushing, pulling, lifting or encircling a runner by any offensive player, not specific to the quarterback assists that have come to be cleverly known as the tush push.
If 24 of the 32 owners approve, the rule would essentially revert back to where it was 20 years ago, when a previous such ban was lifted because of the difficulty of enforcement.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie has been leading the defense of the play his team developed with the coinciding arrival of Hurts in 2020.
The NFL has no conclusive data supporting a connection between the tush push and an injury risk increase, as Lurie noted at the previous league meetings in Florida. The Buffalo Bills are also a frequent user and favor a ban for safety, though, as head coach Sean McDermott said after the vote was tabled.
The tush push not only assigns a player to push the backside of the quarterback for extra power behind a tight nine-man line but sometimes involves a blocker on the end pivoting to try to pull the ball carrier past the marker.
Health is only half of this debate, however. Entertainment is the other.
While the Eagles have nearly perfected the play for fourth-and-1 or 1-yard line situations with well-chosen personnel and well-rehearsed precision, it looks more like rugby than football.
The Packers have been among several teams voicing their distaste for the evolution of the traditional quarterback sneak into an all-out scrum. On the memo distributed by the NFL on Monday, the reasons cited for the proposal are player safety and pace of play.
‘It was controversial when the forward pass came out,’ Lurie said at the last league meetings. ‘I think aestheticism is very subjective. I’ve never judged whether a play looks OK.’
Regardless of the fate of the play, the fairness and fun of it are sure to be talking points throughout the season, particularly leading up to the Monday night game on Nov. 10 when the Packers host the Eagles.
