PHILADELPHIA — The most dominant offensive play in football reached new heights Sunday when the officials grew tired of seeing a desperate flying linebacker.
The Eagles’ trademark Tush Push was responsible for the most ridiculous moment of their 55-23 victory in the NFC championship game, when referee Shawn Hochuli announced to the crowd that he warned the Commanders he has the authority to award a touchdown if the defense continued committing deliberate penalties.
Trying to prevent the Eagles from extending a 34-23 fourth-quarter lead, linebacker Frankie Luvu twice in a row tried to time the snap and jump over the offensive line to crash into quarterback Jalen Hurts inside the 1-yard line.
Because he crossed the neutral zone before the snap, Luvu was flagged for encroachment, but the half-the-distance penalty amounted to only a few inches, so the reward was worth the risk until Hochuli stepped in with the warning for a third time.
“That was hilarious. I was laughing the whole time,” right guard Mekhi Becton said. “There were a few of their guys in there screaming, ‘C’mon. Let’s run the play.’ Then, when we did run it, we took it in the end zone.”
Luvu didn’t find it so funny.
“I don’t know what that was about,” Luvu said. “I guess they [officials] wanted them to score. I just stopped from there.”
The Eagles scored two of their seven rushing touchdowns via the “Tush Push,” when Hurts runs a quarterback sneak with others shoving him across the goal line from behind.
The play results in a first down or touchdown more than 80 percent of the time, which infuriates defenses.
“You think he’d learn,” center Cam Jurgens said of Luvu, “but he didn’t.”
The NFL rule book warns that “the defense shall not commit successive or repeated fouls to prevent a score” or else a touchdown can be awarded.
“Simply put, a team can’t commit multiple fouls in an effort to prevent the score,” Hochuli explained to media after the game.
The Commanders tested the limits with a more traditional offsides when defensive tackle Jonathan Allen committed a third straight penalty by making contact with the offensive line.
Hochuli did not award a touchdown, and then Hurts scored when the teams played up for the fourth attempt at the snap.
“They had a lot of damn emotion, and they were talking a lot,” Jurgens said, “and we executed.”
Luvu actually was called for another offsides inside the 5-yard line later in the game.
Will Shipley followed with a two-yard touchdown run instead of the Tush Push.
“When you’re that close, you have to go … take a shot,” Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said. “And so that’s what we do.”
Shooters shoot, right?
“I was just trying to jump over it,” Luvu said. “The mindset I came in with was I was going to take my shot. If I make it, I make it. If not, I’ll bounce back.”
Next season, maybe.
