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Sean McDermott Ripped for Old Tush Push Comments After Bills’ Win Over Jaguars

Many called the Bills coach a hypocrite over his previous remarks on banning the tush push.

Kristen Wong

Bills coach Sean McDermott has come under fire for his old comments about the tush push after the Bills used the play in their wild-card playoff win over the Jaguars on Sunday.
Bills coach Sean McDermott has come under fire for his old comments about the tush push after the Bills used the play in their wild-card playoff win over the Jaguars on Sunday. / Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images
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The Bills took care of business in their wild-card playoff matchup against the Jaguars with a thrilling 27-24 win to book their ticket to the next round.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen finished with one passing touchdown and two rushing touchdowns, one of which came on a tush push that proved to be the game-winning score late in the fourth quarter. On that final drive, Allen was literally carried by his teammates for 10 yards after the Bills ran the tush push on a fourth-and-inches (one particular Jaguars defender wasn’t very happy about that play); Allen was then able to punch in a rushing touchdown thanks to another successful tush push on the ensuing play.

Here are those back-to-back tush pushes:

In light of the Bills’ conservative offensive strategy late in Sunday’s victory, many fans called out Buffalo coach Sean McDermott for his comments about the tush push last offseason. The Packers notably submitted a proposal to ban the controversial play at the league’s annual meeting, and McDermott was among the 22 members who voted in favor of the ban.

Here’s what McDermott said back in March, specifically discussing the “health and safety” of the play:

“My biggest concern is the health and safety of the players, first and foremost,” McDermott said. “It’s added force and then the posture of the players being asked to execute that type of play. That’s where my concern comes in. That’s not a healthy posture, to me. Then, when you add force to that posture, that’s concerning for me as to the health and safety of the players.

“To me, (the Green Bay proposal) takes away the force. Traditional quarterback sneaks have been around for a long time. That’s the context of it that’s important. Then the pushing adds the force piece, and it exponentially raises my concern.”

McDermott was also asked whether he would continue to run the tush push this season.

“I believe both teams (Buffalo and Philadelphia) can be just as good in a traditional form of a quarterback sneak, and both teams have shown that,” said McDermott. “I know we are one of the teams people identify that runs it; that’s fair. But we’re always going to act in a way that’s best for the health and safety of the players, and I think that’s the responsibility of all of us.”

NFL fans ripped McDermott for his critical comments on the tush push that clearly haven’t aged well after the Bills’ playoff win:

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it—but also maybe don’t speak poorly about it, either. In part due to their very successful quarterback sneak plays, Allen and the Bills took home their first road postseason victory in 33 years and will move on to the divisional round for the sixth consecutive campaign.

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Kristen Wong
KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL Network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. Outside of work, she has dreams of running her own sporty dive bar.

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