Part Rugby, Part Personnel. It’s Not the QB Sneak that NFL Teams Fear. It’s the Eagles Exact Execution.
Throughout history, many NFL Teams have had their own iconic plays. The 1960s Green Bay Packers had the Packer’s Sweep. You knew it was coming. The Packers ran it right at you anyway. Sure, the Packers could throw the football with Bart Starr and Max McGee. But The Sweep was the staple of Vince Lombardi’s offense.
From 2002–2019, no NFL team was more successful than Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots. With perhaps the greatest quarterback/tight end combination ever in Tom Brady (we beat him the in Super Bowl in 2018) the red zone quick slant to Gronkowski became the signature play for New England.
When Bill Walsh took over the San Fransisco 49ers in 1979, he brought with him a short passing scheme that would become known as the West Coast Offense. Once he solidified Joe Montana and Steve Young as his signal callers, he used the West Coast scheme to incorporate weapons such as Roger Craig, John Taylor, Jerry Rice, and Brent Jones, and the offense ran to perfection.
And now we have some who would like to outlaw the Eagles Brotherly-Shoving Tush Push. This week, it was revealed that Scottish Rugby Coach Richie Gray had some influence on the play for the Eagles.
We knew it looked like a rugby scrum.
He’s a novel idea. Just defend against it.
Just like all of the historical plays executed by NFL juggernauts during bygone decades, the game is still played with 11 players on offense and defense. Why succumb to the jealously of a beautifully-executed play that no one can stop?
Especially when you can always play defense instead of banning it.
