NEW ORLEANS — It is called a quarterback sneak in virtually every outpost around the NFL.
The Eagles do it differently, with more verve and panache, and, fittingly, they give it a more interesting name.
It is the aptly named and visually descriptive Tush Push.
For those favoring a geographic reference, it is the Brotherly Shove.
For one of the key participants in the short-yardage play that has brought the rest of the league to its knees, it is characterized as something even more descriptive.
“I call it pain,’’ center Cam Jurgens told The Post.
It is called something fairly unprintable by defenses who are assigned to get the Eagles off the field and find it nearly impossible to accomplish that mission.
Next up, it is the Chiefs, tasked with figuring out how to stop what has been close to an unstoppable play.
Third-and-1 on Sunday in Super Bowl 2025? Fourth-and-1? First-and-goal on the 1-yard line?
The Chiefs know what is coming. Everyone knows what is coming.
Steve Spagnuolo, the Chiefs defensive coordinator, knows what is coming.
Chris Jones, the outstanding Chiefs defensive lineman, knows what is coming.
Knowing and doing something about it are not one and the same.
This past season, the Eagles converted 82.4 percent of their Tush Push attempts.
In 2023, it was 83.3 percent.
In 2022, when Jason Kelce was operating as the starting center, the Eagles tried it 27 times and made it 25 times, a 92.6 percent rate.
“Every first down is first-and-9,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni once said of the Brotherly Shove. “We have a lot of faith in that play.”
Every team has short-yardage quarterback sneak plays.
The Eagles have a strong, powerful and athletic offensive line, and one of the most powerful quarterbacks in the league.
Jalen Hurts is 223 pounds, and in the weight room he can squat a minivan.
The usual setup is to put two players behind Hurts and to shove away.
“You kind of got to set that wedge, and you can’t give up any penetration right away,’’ Jurgens said. “You’re never just going to go off and kill the guys in front of you. It’s just all about the guys working together, and when you’ve got five guys or whatever, you may not get push right away, but you will get it eventually, keeping your feet alive and not flopping when you get hit.’’
Jurgens was unfamiliar with this, as he was rarely under center in college at Nebraska, operating almost exclusively with shotgun snaps.
Nick Gates just finished up his first season with the Eagles, after four with the Giants and one with the Commanders.
As a center with plenty of experience, he learned the hard way that the Eagles’ short-yardage package is an acquired skill and famed offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland demands perfection.
“I did it in the preseason and it was atrocious,’’ Gates said. “That was the first time. You’re not supposed to hit the ground, the way he wants you coming out and not hitting the ground, and three of the five linemen shot out and we all hit the ground and we didn’t get the first down. Did it in the Cowboys game and we got it, but I wasn’t good on my part. I didn’t do well enough. Against the Giants, I had a good one, I did it how it was supposed to be done.’’
Gates said he tries to watch left tackle Jordan Mailata and left guard Landon Dickerson because “they do it really well.’’
As far as describing exactly what it feels like when involved with the play, Gates cannot help much there.
“To be honest with you, I can’t even remember,’’ Gates said. “It happens so fast and there’s bodies everywhere. I don’t really know where the push is coming from. I just know there’s somebody pushing in the middle of my back. It just feels like you’re getting pushed from all over.’’
It is almost automatic, and opposing defenses are growing restless and frustrated trying and failing to deal with it.
With the Eagles leading 34-23 early in the fourth quarter of their eventual 55-23 victory in the NFC Championship game, the Commanders three times committed goal-line penalties attempting to disrupt the Tush Push.
There was an intentional encroachment call on Jonathan Allen and then back-to-back launches over the line of scrimmage by linebacker Frankie Luvu, trying to leap onto Hurts.
It reached such comical proportions that the officials issued a warning that they could award a touchdown to the Eagles if the Commanders continued this facade.
The frustration is palpable.
“Maybe not the first time we run it, but maybe like the third, fourth,’’ Jurgens said. “The first time, they’re all excited. Yeah, definitely, I’d be frustrated, too.’’
That is understandable. When the Eagles do their Tush Push, it is tough to get them off the field.
