For the Eagles, Kelce is gone, but the tush push stays -- will it nonetheless succeed?

The Philadelphia Eagles performed their first recreation minus future Corridor of Fame middle Jason Kelce final Friday — a 34-29 win over the Green Bay Packers in São Paulo, Brazil — however he could not keep away.

When Philadelphia, clinging to a two-point lead, bought all the way down to the Packers’ 1-yard line with 1:12 remaining, Kelce fired off a tweet.

“Tush push to end it!!!!!” he wrote on X.

Kelce, who now serves as an ESPN analyst on “Monday Evening Countdown,” bought the decision proper. However the play did not go because it usually does for the Eagles. The alternate between new middle Cam Jurgens and quarterback Jalen Hurts wasn’t clear. The ball hit the bottom, and an alert Saquon Barkley hopped on the fumble to keep away from a near-turnover.

Kelce’s subsequent put up was Homer Simpson backpedaling into the bushes and out of sight.

The “Brotherly Shove” had solely modest success in Week 1. There have been 4 makes an attempt complete. Two failed, one was efficiently transformed, and the opposite led to an encroachment penalty on Inexperienced Bay that resulted in an Eagles first down.

So it is 50-50, which is under the lofty requirements set by the crew for this play. The Eagles have a hit charge of 86% (61 of 71) since they began operating it in 2022 — nicely above the league common of 76%.

“It is unstoppable,” quarterback Will Grier stated. “I’ve watched them do it for 2 years now.”

Effectively it was.

The success charge has ticked down some as of late. The Eagles bought a primary down on 93% of their tush push makes an attempt in 2022 (25 of 27). In 2023, they utilized the play extra and transformed at a charge of 83% (35 of 42).

It seems defenses are getting higher at slowing the play. And now one of many all-time greats at middle is not in the midst of the motion for Philly.

One week is a really small pattern, however the outcomes additional the curiosity round one of many extra mentioned and debated performs within the NFL: What’s the secret sauce behind the tush push? And was Kelce the principle ingredient all alongside?

THE TUSH PUSH is an easy play on the floor. It’s a glorified QB sneak, the one distinction is there are gamers lined up behind the quarterback — usually a operating again and tight finish — who ship an additional shot of momentum by pushing the quarterback ahead into, and ideally via, the scrum.

The Eagles boast one of many largest offensive strains in soccer, with tackles Lane Johnson (6-foot-6, 325 kilos) and Jordan Mailata (6-8, 365 kilos) and left guard Landon Dickerson (6-6, 332 kilos) within the trenches. Add in a former powerlifter in Hurts, who can squat over 500 kilos, and now operating again Saquon Barkley, who can carry round 600, and you’ve got the makings for one potent short-yardage operation.

“It undoubtedly helps how sturdy Jalen is and the way sturdy I’m and [tight end] Dallas [Goedert]. It is an ideal play,” Barkley stated. “That play goes to be talked about for a really very long time, and it is laborious to cease, so we plan on persevering with to make it laborious to cease.”

There may be extra to the science equation than sheer power, nonetheless, and that is the place Kelce got here in.

“Kelce did such job of staying low persistently,” Johnson stated. “I believe it is why we had been so profitable — him after which our two guards and tackles form of seep in and ensure there is not any leakage. He did job together with his leverage and actually figuring out the best way to execute. We will attempt to preserve it to the identical commonplace so far as execution-wise, however as you understand each [Eagles] crew appears to be like completely different, gamers look completely different so we have nonetheless bought to attend and see.”

The opposite key aspect, gamers say, is want-to. Diving headfirst right into a wall of humanity and being the low man in a pile of 300-plus-pound athletes isn’t for the faint of coronary heart. The identical iron man spirit that helped Kelce set the franchise file for consecutive begins (156) allowed him to function the lead blocker for the play again and again.

“Grit, man. Each time we did it he all the time stated, ‘Man, we have to run it? OK.’ However when he ran it, it was balls to the wall, 100%,” Mailata stated. “We had been going to get that first down.”

Based on ESPN Analytics/NFL Subsequent Gen Stats, Kelce had a 91% run block win charge on push QB sneak performs final season, 16 proportion factors larger than his general run block win charge in 2023 (75%).

The Eagles’ overwhelming success executing the tush push put the play within the highlight and fueled debate over whether or not it belonged within the NFL.

Former Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio said he would “prefer to see it eradicated” earlier than the Commanders and Eagles performed final season, calling it “a pleasant rugby play” however “not what we’re on the lookout for in soccer.”

The NFL competitors committee was “break up” over whether or not to outlaw the play final offseason, per Atlanta Falcons president Wealthy McKay, the chairman of the committee. The NFL finally determined in March that the play would stay authorized in 2024.

“The league nonetheless likes the play, which is stunning to some folks,” referee Brad Allen stated earlier than the beginning of the season. “However the one factor [the NFL] will inform us is that on that formation, when these operating backs get bunched up so shut, they wish to be certain that there’s some daylight between these operating backs and the road of scrimmage. You’ll be able to’t put them proper up within the gaps as a result of that creates an unlawful formation. That is about it. Apart from that, they’re good with the play, they’re in a great place with it.”

Aside from dimension, energy and leverage, repetition has served the Eagles nicely. Their 71 tush push makes an attempt since 2022 are 41 greater than the next-closest crew (Payments, 30).

“Clearly Kelce is a particular participant and Jalen is a powerful man, that definitely does not harm, however in comparison with different groups I have been on, they simply know right here: it is fourth-and-1, third-and-1, they’re simply committing to it,” Grier stated.

THE LESS-THAN-stellar begin on Friday ought to be taken with a grain of salt, Kelce believes.

“I do not know that I’m the figuring out issue within the success of this,” stated Kelce on his “New Heights” podcast, noting that the play was stopped throughout the crew’s playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Bucs in January. “To start with, it is a actually laborious play to run when lots of guys are operating it for the primary time. As soon as you’ve got run it a pair instances, you understand how to run quarterback sneak, you get right into a rhythm, and also you perceive how it is going to occur.

“And I believe they’d a brand new piece at middle with Cam … after which Mekhi Becton being new clearly at proper guard.”

Similar goes for offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, “primarily based off the circumstances of that recreation, I believe we have some nice alternatives with the QB sneak aspect and preserving that as a part of that package deal as we go.

“It is a vital play for us. … It is a premier play, and we really feel actually snug with it.”.

Jurgens, a second-round select of Nebraska in 2022, was a favourite of Kelce’s popping out of that draft and has been coached to be his successor. Provided that he was within the movie room with Kelce for 2 years and labored alongside him final season because the beginning proper guard, Jurgens feels ready.

“That is the height of the wedge proper there, so clearly ensure you’ve bought the cadence, getting off on the snap, and that every one begins with the middle and the quarterback,” Jurgens stated.

The turf at Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo was slick, inflicting points for gamers on either side. Moore stated “there was a component of slipping there” on the late-game try on the aim line that resulted in a fumble. If the situations had been completely different, maybe the success charge would have been as nicely.

“You’ll be able to solely rep that snap and the best way it feels stay,” Kelce stated. “And the fact is you might be to this point leaning ahead attempting to get leverage it is a very awkward snap to get to the quarterback for those who’re doing it proper. I’ve bought to assume, particularly with the slick discipline, that there have been elements there that led to that fumbled one.

“I believe the fact is the extra reps these guys get at it, the extra it is going to get again to that 90-plus p.c success charge. This has carried out nothing to discourage me.”