Why Chiefs Are Intently Watching Surprise Tush Push Developments

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Chiefs have a love-hate relationship with the Tush Push.

Two nemesis opponents love to run it and Kansas City hates it. But like a small mammal surviving the Chicxulub meteor, the Tush Push is no longer endangered?

“There's no team proposal that I've seen from it,” Rich McKay told reporters on Sunday after Competition Committee meetings. “So, I wouldn't envision it. But you never know.”

Shocking, or not so much

The co-chairman of the powerful committee, McKay sounded as shocked as everyone else. At last year’s annual league meeting, a measure to ban the play fell only two votes short of passing. Former Super Bowl champion Jason McCourty had a simple reaction on Monday morning.

“It reminded me of arguments that I have with my wife,” McCourty said on Monday’s edition of Get Up, “where all the reasons just start to just come out of nowhere. First is health and safety, then it's the esthetics of the play; looks like rugby. But at the end of the day, I'm correct, and you just move on past it, and it's silence on the other end.

“You look at what's gone on over the last year for other NFL teams. The reason no one's talking about it is because the play wasn't as successful this year. Defenses caught up. They figured out ways to stop it. We watched Jalen Hurts lose a fumble on the Tush Push. So, now going forward, there's multiple teams that do it now, but defenses and teams, they aren't as passionate about it because they're like, ‘You know what? We've gone back, we've watched the film, and we figured out different avenues to stop this play.’”

jason mccourt — Feb 3, 2019; Atlanta, GA, USA; Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Josh Reynolds (83) is tackled by New England Patriots cornerback Jason McCourty (30) during the fourth quarter in Super Bowl LIII at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Spagnuolo gave everyone film to stop play

The Chiefs were among those teams that helped other defenses stop it. In the 20-17 loss to the Eagles on Sept. 14, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo gifted future opponents with some of the tactics he didn’t get a chance to deploy at the Super Bowl. But even though the Chiefs stopped it on two occasions, the Eagles still converted four, including the game-icing first down that allowed them to run out the clock.

For the record, Spagnuolo has never publicly complained. In both the Super Bowl and that Week 2 rematch, the Eagles did just what everyone expected. Spagnuolo maintained a simple no-excuses mantra that, if the league continues to deem it legal, the Chiefs have to devise a way to stop it.

The Bills have used it several times in a controversial AFC championship loss to Kansas City, and their last few regular-season wins over Chiefs.

Kareem Hunt actually was more successful in short yardage on 2025 carries than the Tush Push. The league’s best back in that situation, Hunt converted 22 of 27 carries (81.5 percent) on third-and-2-or-less, and 12 of 13 (92.3 percent) on fourth-and-2-or-less. Overall on those crucial attempts, he was 34 of 40 (85.0 percent).

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