How much of a factor will Eagles 'Tush Push,' be to Rams in Week 12?

The Philadelphia Eagles are coming to SoFi Stadium, and the LA Rams are about to take a master class in how to block and defend at the line of scrimmage. As the NFL schedule for Week 12 has taken shape, the Eagles at the Rams has maintained its prime-time television reputation. This will pit one of the best teams against one of the most rapidly improving teams. The outcome could harbor significant importance as to who does, and does not, compete in the 2025 NFL Playoffs.

But the game may hinge more upon the cliche' 'game of inches,' reputation of the NFL than you might expect. That is due to the infamous Philadelphia Eagles 'Tush Push,' which is the name given to the Eagles quarterback sneak. It has earned its nickname because the Eagles run the play almost flawlessly. And any instance of infallible success gains notoriety in the NFL. So much so that the NFL entertained rule changes to make the play illegal.

But the NFL stopped short of making the play illegal. So they are still running it, which means the Rams' defense must find some way of stopping it. How can the Rams do that? That was a question posed to HC Sean McVay at a post-practice press conference at the 0:40 mark:

So how did McVay respond? As any great NFL head coach or politician, he spoke volumes, but said very little. That comes at no surprise, because why would any NFL coach tell the next opponent their strategy? Here is what McVay said:

"Where do you want me to start? I think the biggest thing is just the momentum, the techniques, the fundamentals. I mean, you know, everybody tries to run it, but they do it at a little bit different clip. And you know you hear people talk about (Eagles offensive line coach) Jeff Stoutland, (who) you know is a guy who is one of the great coaches in this league. There is an understanding of leverage angles, get-off, a rapport that (ha)s been established, and they (ha)ve been doing it for a long time. Obviously, (Eagles QB) Jalen [Hurts] has a great feel for being able to kind of ride that wave, if you will. There are a lot of challenges.”"

- Rams HC Sean McVay

The thing is, you are never going to get a 'How do you plan to do that?' response from any NFL head coach before the game. So ESPN's Rams reporter, Sarah Bishop, aimed a similar question to one of the Rams blocker-gobbler defensive linemen Bobby Brown III. Brown has been very impressive this season, as he leads the defense in stopping the run.

While the Eagles have been very effective at running that QB sneak, the Rams' defense has not exactly been chicken soup at stopping offenses in short yardage scenarios. Per NFL.com statistics, the LA Rams defense has allowed just 44 of 116 third-down conversions and just five of six fourth-down conversions. To be fair, several occasions of the defense allowing the offense to make a first down has been the result of a poorly timed penalty.

While the Eagles Tush Push poses a challenge to this young Rams defense, it is by no means a sure thing. And with defensive linemen like Bobby Brown III and inside linebacker Omar Speights in the mix, the Rams' defense could find unexpected success at stopping the Eagles' Tush Push.

As always, thanks for reading.

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