QB push play shortens the sticks for the Eagles
Football is, fundamentally, a 10-yard fight. The Eagles have made it shorter than that.
Their perfection of the quarterback push play has shortened the sticks for the Eagles. As a practical matter, they need to gain only eight or nine yards in three plays, because the rest of it has become automatic on fourth down.
I wasn't a fan of it at first. I've grown to like it. Maybe to even love it. It's becoming as familiar as a beloved character's catch phrase, like "whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?" or "kiss my grits" or Fonzi throwing two thumbs up and saying, "Ayyyyyyy."
For me, it's gone from abomination to thing of beauty. An unstoppable force that has yet to encounter an immovable object.
Can anyone ever stop it? Who knows? That's part of the fun. Waiting for the moment that someone finds a way to keep the Eagles from gaining their automatic yard or two.
Yes, it creates an enhanced injury risk. Since the quarterback is a runner, he has no protection. It's open season. And while there's a chance Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts's knee injury of sudden and unknown origin was caused or exacerbated by such a play, no one has figured out how to do anything other than lay on him.
Even if a defensive player can pull off the Troy Polamalu perfectly-timed leap over the top, what would happen? There's no one to hit; Hurts is instantly gone.
As Chris Simms explained it on Monday's PFT Live, the Eagles essentially have three centers at the heart of the action, firing off and carrying a phone booth full of bodies with them.
Other teams have tried it. Some of them have had success with it. None has perfected it like the Eagles have. Mainly because no one else has the personnel the Eagles have.
That's the next step in the evolution of the play. If, as it appears, it's not going away, teams will need to scout, to acquire, and to develop players who can do what the Eagles do.
And, yes, it's worth it. The Eagles have shrunken the chains by one or two yards. That's a huge benefit for the Eagles. It extends drives, and it forces defenses to line up on first and 10 after being demoralized by the ability of the Eagles to overpower any and every defensive front they encounter in tight quarters.
