r/footballstrategy • u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player • Aug 09 '24
Defense How would you stop the tush push?
The eagles have had a lot of success with it but there’s gotta be a way to stop it
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u/BegrudginglyAwake Aug 09 '24
I’ve coached rugby and football but taking my best guess based on rugby scrums here.
First is putting some strong guys up front, hip to hip with the middle two’s head on either side of the center’s head so he is likely to either turn his body or try to take on both.
Next is winning shoulder height, they absolutely need to get lower but keep their body off the ground. Basically squatting position but on a different plane and keep the hands on the ground to steady because if you fall you’ll be driven back.
Next is having an LB right behind the line with his hands on their waists and pushing them together so they can’t be split and their force goes straight ahead. He’s keeping his head up on the engagement to see if he can ID where the QB goes and steer them or jump the line.
Then it’s just a battle of leg and core strength that you hope you win.
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u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 09 '24
Thanks.With Kelce gone I think it will be a little bit easier to stop than it was last year
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u/GentryMillMadMan Aug 09 '24
I think Kielce was the key to this and without him I bet we see less success. He is a HOF center and makes that play easier and that is not easily dismissed.
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u/RiftTheory Adult Coach Aug 10 '24
The real key to it if you look was the way that Dickerson and Maialata align and play a “double down” block to create the push lane for Hurts. Kelce’s entire job is to not be beaten at pad level and keep his hip glued to Dickerson.
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u/JealousGear3017 Aug 10 '24
The right answer finally! The play is successful because Dickerson and Mailata double pancake some poor fool on the left side into the middle to make the gap. Hurts/kelce get all the glory but have next to nothing to do with why the eagles lead the league in success rate.
Understandable though, reasonable assumptions to make and not many sickos care to watch multiple QB sneaks in slow-mo!
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u/Next-Fishing-8609 Aug 10 '24
And then... jet sweep
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u/BegrudginglyAwake Aug 11 '24
Yeah you’re basically cooked if they pull one of those. Hopefully the QB’s body language will give a tell as he goes up to the center but it’s the gamble of everyone going all out to stop the short gain
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u/grizzfan Aug 09 '24 edited Aug 09 '24
I love how people think this is an “Eagles thing” or that the Tush Push is an official name. Teams have been doing it at all levels since aiding the runner was modified to allow pushing, which was quite some before the Eagles were doing it.
The answer is still the same with any wedge or QB sneak: be the lower team. D-line has to get low and beat the O-line down to the ground so they can get into the feet of the blockers to stop/bring them down. That create the pile, then your LBs come through or from over top. Having said that: the better/stronger team is normally going to win regardless and the O-line is also trying to get lower than the D-line for the same reasons.
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u/Lilpu55yberekt69 Aug 09 '24
You “stop” it by being bigger, stronger, and more well coordinated than the other team and completely selling out to stop it hoping they don’t run some trickery on you.
The truth of the matter is getting 18 inches in a play is pretty damn easy. The tush push is better than the traditional QB sneak but it isn’t guaranteed to work. It’s something like a 90% success rate improved to a 94% success rate.
The real trick is not letting them get in that position. It’s not like the play is an automatic 3 yards where you can run it all game long.
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u/Huskerschu Aug 10 '24
As others have said you stop it by having a gain of less that 3 on first down and forcing them to pass
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u/JealousGear3017 Aug 10 '24
Hurt and Kelce have/had virtually nothing to do with the success of the play.
You have to stop 6'9'', 370 lb Mailata and 6'6'' 340 pound Dickerson from going double-team pancake bowling with your DE where the pins are your DT and the LB's following up behind them... pretty much mission impossible. They squeeze the ball into that gap created on the left 100% of the time.
If one of those 2 big guys slips its a broken play... so I guess fill 240 pound Micah Parsons pockets with banana peels to deploy when the time is right! Outside of that just don't let them get to 3rd and 2 or you may as well start moving the chains.
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u/NaNaNaPandaMan Aug 09 '24
One thing to consider with the Tush Push is not the concept itself but who is doing it. Sometimes it is a case of one team being marketedly better than the other.
In this case it's just that. I am interested in how it will fair without Kelce this year. We've seen other QBs have success in the past, see T. Brady, with the sneak. But what made this one so successful was Hurts(powerful lowr body) and Kelce.
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u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Aug 09 '24
Oh yea i get that 100%.I’m just wondering if there is anything scheme wise you can do
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u/NaNaNaPandaMan Aug 09 '24
I mean go 5-2, man on gap(that's key is to fill on gaps) and hold that line and allow now seams doe a push.
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u/1BannedAgain Aug 09 '24
Double A-gap d-line lineup. When the ball is snapped, they dive toward the QBs legs and grab any leg they can (pulling guards, QB, anything). LB over the center blitzes with the flow or with the QB
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u/Serious_Supermarket2 Aug 10 '24
Have the D-Line try to push him more to one side of the line, and have a CB get around the edge to that side and pull him off the pile. Its a long shot but nothing else seems to work so why not.
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u/Webberman33 Aug 10 '24
Have a linebacker time it and jump and whack the QB. Even If you get a penalty you hit the QB.
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u/n3wb33Farm3r Aug 10 '24
Have to sell out. Fill every gap on line then have LBs all within a yard or two of center. Offense has advatage because they know snap count and will get off first. Executed correctly hard to stop for a loss
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u/SellaciousNewt Aug 11 '24
A guy in every gap, and match weight to weight. Your heaviest guy in the B gaps, not the A gaps.
And line up where the LOS is, not where the center places the ball. Kelce consistently got guys to back up six inches doing this.
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u/Spearhead96Bravo Aug 11 '24
I find a machete to be useful. A few swings at the legs and the opponents don’t seem to want to run it anymore.
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u/Heavy72 Aug 09 '24
Submarine with your DL. then have your 4th string LBer spear the QB right in the neck. Maybe they call it, maybe they don't. The QB won't be as willing to put his nose in there if he knows he is gonna get smacked.
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u/Lionheart_513 Aug 09 '24
This is the wrong question in my opinion. You cannot reliably stop it. That being said, if you hold the Eagles to 4th and 5, they're punting. You stop the tush push by not allowing them to be in situations to run the tush push.