RADIO
Ellis, an ex-varsity rugby player and trainer, combines his two favorite sports to try and defend the tush push in the NFL. Using his experience and knowledge of the two sports, Ellis dissects the play and how it can be stopped.
It’s Week 10 of the NFL season and one play has taken the league by storm. No, it’s not getting Tyreek Hill in motion so he can torch defenders. Instead, it’s the big boys in the trenches getting to work.
Of course, I am talking about the “tush push” (or brotherly shove or whatever you want to call it). This play is often imitated but never duplicated to the extent of success the Eagles have had (93%).
So what should the NFL do? Since it’s only one team finding success, it’s clearly a skillful play. As a result, it will most likely be legal for years to come. The question then becomes: How can you stop it? Whether you believe it’s a rugby play or not, we can look to rugby to potentially theorize a defense. My name is Ellis Johnson, and I played rugby for eight years, including at the varsity level during my undergraduate years. Here is what I think we can learn from analyzing each sport.
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Don't Jump
It's clear the NFL has no idea how to defend this play. Players have been seen doing anything they can think of to try and stop the push. One defensive strategy that I find laughable is defenders leaving their feet. In Week 9, we saw one of the league's best defenders, Micah Parsons, get taken for a ride by the Eagles line when he tried to jump on top. Unless you manage to find the ball and strip it, this will not help your defense.
The Body Position Battle
This is hands down the biggest component of this play. Whether it is the offensive linemen getting and maintaining leverage from the snap if the defense doesn't win the body position battle, this play will not be stopped.
In rugby, the most similar play is called a “scrum”. In this play, each team lines up in front of each other and the ball is rolled in the middle. The goal is to push the other team back and win possession. Basically, it's very similar to the center handing the ball to the QB and pushing him over. Here is a picture of the two plays side by side.
Clearly, there are some similarities. However, why is this play not considered overpowered in rugby? Well, a lot of it has to do with the approach by the defense.
The body position battle is ultimately getting the most leverage to push against the opposing team. To simplify this, it’s a matter of getting your shoulders lower than your opponents’. Ideally, this will push your opponent into an upright position, where they lose their ability to successfully push back. Here is a picture of a successful defense by the Seahawks against the Giants. I chose this picture as it clearly shows the level change and lower positioning.
The Push
The push is arguably more important than the tush (no disrespect to the dump trucks out there). This push has to be met with a successful counter-push. We have already discussed the positioning component, but what about the coordination?
The most effective defense in rugby is pushing as a collective unit in a piercing manner. Think about it as shoveling snow (or pushing against sand if you’re not familiar). If you use a wide shovel, it is going to be hard to move. However, if you use a shovel that is not very wide, you can slice through the snow (or sand). In other words, it’s more effective to have a concentrated push than to have a wide surface area where everyone stands beside each other.
Here is a picture of a rugby counter-push compared to the Commanders trying to defend the play to help demonstrate what I am describing.
Not only does Washington immediately lose the body positioning battle, but they are all spread out. That will never win against a consolidated offensive push. If you look at the rugby play, all players are tight together, with players behind the line pushing the individuals in front.
Another takeaway is that the offense uses the strategy I described to pierce through the defense. Here is a picture of Jason Kelce creating space between the defenders and breaking the line beside a picture of rugby defenders not letting anyone through.
In rugby, players bind onto each other, using their arms to hold their shoulders together and ensuring no one can push between defenders. Ultimately, whoever wins the body positioning battle and breaks the pushing line first will win the play. Here is an example of players binding to each other as they line up for a scrum.
You can see both sides of the bind. On the left, you can see where their hands are holding their bodies together. On the right, you can see that the players are one unit, tight together, and have low shoulders. They also have their feet set and are in a strong body position.
Personally, I think the ability to bind to each other and push as a wall is arguably the most important part of this defensive strategy. I am unsure what the NFL rules are on lining up before the snap, but if players know the push is coming, they can bind presnap, lower their shoulders, and push as a unit. Obviously, this will look different than the picture above, but it can be used as a potential guide.
Final Thoughts
To be very clear, I am not an NFL coach or player. As a result, I am unsure how practical these suggestions are. However, instead of viewing this play as a negative because it’s a “rugby play”, why don’t we use other sports to help make football better? Whether that is innovating new defensive strategies or new offensive plays, inspiration can come from anywhere.
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