The Broncos play the Eagles this week and that made the tush push part of the conversation at Broncos head coach Sean Payton’s video conference with reporters on Tuesday.
When the Packers’ proposal to ban the play went up for a vote this offseason, the Broncos voted in favor of eliminating it but Payton’s view is different. Payton said it would be one thing “if the powers to be don’t want it for aesthetic reasons or it’s hard to officiate,” but that he took issue with the attempt to frame the question as one of player safety.
“When health and safety was pulled into that, which might be the safest play in football, my bulls—t nose kinda went up,” Payton said. “Look, it’s a quarterback sneak and, I think, credit Philadelphia. Take a peek at this past week’s touchdown off the tush push look and it was a sweep to the left. I’m one that looks at it, you know, as long as the line of scrimmage is clean, it’s a well-run quarterback sneak. When you really evaluate it, it’s more the technique of the sneak than the push.”
As Payton noted, the Eagles ran different plays out of the tush push formation in their win over the Buccaneers. That will make life more difficult for him and other opposing coaches as they plan for games against the defending champs, but that’s not enough reason for him to change his view of whether the play should be part of the game.
