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The Philadelphia Eagles’ famous tush push was at the center of another controversy during the team’s 38-20 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts had the ball stripped from his hands by Giants defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux as he extended for a first down. The Giants recovered the ball and looked like they were coming up with a key takeaway, but the refs blew the play dead due to progress.
The Eagles were awarded a first down, much to the chagrin of Giants head coach Brian Daboll, who was fuming. Two plays after the fourth-down conversion, the Eagles scored a touchdown to go up 14-7.
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Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts looks to fumble the ball while running the tush push play against the New York Giants at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Oct. 26, 2025. (Terence Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Former Eagles star center Jason Kelce said the refs overturned the call.
“It’s a fumble, they missed it,” Kelce said during a recent episode of “New Heights.”
Travis Kelce said the refs had to either call his momentum stopped before the line to win, and it should have been a turnover on downs, or a fumble. Instead, the referees gave the Eagles a first try.
Jason agreed with his brother, saying Hurts’ forward momentum wasn’t stopped. He said that if the tush push is difficult to perform, then that is a reason to ban it.
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New York Giants linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux collects what appeared to be a fumble by Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Oct. 26, 2025. (Terence Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“I know there’s been a lot of noise about false starts, and now this game understands, and I understand that. If the tush push is really hard to do, that would certainly be a reason to ban it,” Kelce said.
While admitting the difficulties referees have had in officiating the game, he defended the game itself.
“Look, I know everybody wants to get on the tush push, again, I don’t see how this has anything to do with the tush push. Officials miss forward calls all the time,” Kelce said.
“I’m not looking to make excuses, I just don’t know how these little things have to do with pushing tushes. Like, it’s still going to be a problem if the Eagles run the quarterback sneak, that’s my only caveat to that.”
Jason Kelce waves to fans during the Super Bowl LIX championship parade and rally in Philadelphia on February 14, 2025. (Kyle Ross/Imagn Images)
“Like if you allow offensive linemen to misstart, they’re going to do it whether there’s people pushing behind you or not.”
The Eagles’ famous play was nearly banned this offseason. At the spring meetings in May, the owners voted 22-10 to ban it, but fell two votes short of the 24 needed to abolish the play.
The Eagles improved to 6-2 with their win over the Giants and have a bye week this week.
