New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll is the latest member of the NFL to take issue with the tush push. Daboll expressed a ton of frustration Sunday, after Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts appeared to fumble on the controversial play.
The incident occurred early in the second quarter of Philadelphia’s 38-20 victory against New York. On a crucial fourth-and-1, the Eagles turned to their most consistent play. After driving the ball forward, Hurts tried to make a second effort to get the first down. As Hurts extended his hands forward, Giants linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux knocked the ball out of the QB’s hands.
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The ball fell to the ground, with Thibodeaux making a clear recovery.
But the refs didn’t see it that way. It was ruled that Hurts’ forward progress was stopped before the fumble, despite whistles appearing to come well after Thibodeaux had gained possession. The Eagles converted the first down.
Daboll was furious about the ruling, and argued with officials on the sideline. The situation escalated so much that the referee felt it was necessary to explain the situation to fans, saying, “We ruled forward progress on the play for a first down. New York had challenged the play. I explained to them that this was ruled forward progress. There was no challenge on the play.”
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After that ruling, Daboll threw a challenge flag anyway. The Giants lost the challenge — and a timeout. A few plays later, the Eagles scored a go-ahead touchdown.
It’s far from the first time the tush push has frustrated opponents this season. In Week 3, the Eagles appeared to get away with a false start penalty on the play. In Week 7, the Minnesota Vikings literally had a defender lay down at the line of scrimmage to try and stop the play.
There was increased scrutiny on the tush push this season after team owners held a vote to ban the play this past offseason. Though that vote fell short, Dallas Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones told Yahoo Sports last week he expects another vote to be held to ban the tush push this coming offseason.
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With officials struggling to make calls on the play this season, this time a vote might turn out differently.