Football fans are in for a treat on Monday Night Football when the Kansas City Chiefs host the Philadelphia Eagles in a Super Bowl rematch. The Chiefs won that game 38-35 in February and will be looking to make it two in a row against their NFC counterparts.
Similar to last season, Kansas City and Philadelphia are among the best teams in the NFL. The Chiefs enter tonight’s game with a 7-2 record, tops in the AFC, while the Eagles’ 8-1 record is the best in the NFL.
If the Super Bowl matchup earlier in the year is an indication of things to come, this will be a great game. Both teams have offenses that can move the ball up and down the field with relative ease and defenses that make it difficult on their opponents as well.
Chiefs’ head coach Andy Reid will certainly have his hands full in this one. A particular play that his team will be challenged with stopping is the short-yardage play that has been dubbed the ‘tush push’ or ‘Brotherly Shove’ by people in the football world.
It is easily the most dominant play in football currently with about a 90 percent conversion rate. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts lines up under center and his teammates push him from behind through the defensive front.
How do the Chiefs plan on slowing this down? Reid revealed his thoughts on the play, and it may surprise some people. He said it isn’t one worth working on in practice, mostly because you can’t.
“That’s a tough one to practice,” Reid said. “You almost have to do it live. So I don’t think they’re spending a ton of time on it. I just think they’re good at it. I think their inside three do a pretty good job with it and they’ve grown with it over time. That’s what I see.”
Admittedly, the Eagles don’t work on it much either in practice. Wide receiver DeVonta Smith admitted it isn’t something they go out and work on tirelessly, they just focus on the little things that make it work, separating themselves from everyone else who has tried it and failed.
“We don’t just go out there and practice it at practice,” Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith told ESPN’s “This is Football” podcast over the bye week. “It’s the details of it. And also half of it is just the will to wanna do it. Those guys (on the offensive line), they enjoy doing stuff like that. When we got to 1-yard situations, they will sit there laughing. … I honestly feel like there’s nothing to do unless we fumble it. I feel like that’s the only way you can … stop it.”
The Eagles execute the play, unlike any other team. Despite that, the NFL is going to investigate the play and see if it is something they will be banning in the future. Alas, that seems unlikely.
Philadelphia has seemingly found an edge in short-yardage situations that other teams cannot successfully mimic. In the meantime, teams like the Chiefs are going to just have to try and find ways to slow the play down on their own on the field.
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