The Eagles had plenty of problems in the first half against the Chargers on Monday night.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts did not look good, including a few regular bad plays and an absolutely disastrous one which featured him turning the ball over twice on a single play. Kicker Jake Elliott missed what should have been a standard 48-yard field goal just before halftime. Vibes were bad.
But while Hurts’s double turnover will earn the headlines, it’s likely the most telling sequence from the first half was one that actually ended in points for the Eagles.
After forcing a fumble out of Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert near midfield, the Philadelphia offense worked the ball down the field until they had first-and-goal from the 2-yard line. At this point, many football fans would have expected the Eagles to run a tush push, or two or three or four tush pushes, until they crossed the goal line. They did not.
Instead, the Eagles tried one run out of the shotgun for no-gain, then lost 10 yards on a holding penalty, and ultimately had to settle for a field goal. Fans were confused and frustrated.
The Eagles, armed with the Brotherly Shove, went from first-and-goal at the 2:
— Brooks Kubena (@BKubena) December 9, 2025
- no-gain handoff to Saquon Barkley
- a holding penalty on a would-be touchdown to A.J. brown
- an incomplete pass
- a sack
A 30-yard field goal ends the drive. Not the goal-line Eagles we've known.
no tush push huh.
— Gavin McHugh (@gavinmchughh) December 9, 2025
Eagles are lost.
lost their identity.
this is rock bottom.
How do you not just tush push 4 times and get a TD
— Saquon Center (@SaquonsCenter) December 9, 2025
Think about how many 3rd shorts last year where they ran the tush push once and then again. Malpractice that they decided to go shotgun and throw there.
— Kevin Negandhi (@KevinNegandhi) December 9, 2025
The decision to not go tush push or bust at the goal line felt indicative of the Eagles’ loss of faith in the play. Last week, the Bears were able to shut down the once dominant play in creative fashion. This week, the Chargers didn’t even have to try.
There’s been plenty of talk about banning the tush push, but if the Eagles no longer think the play is reliable enough to mash the button four times in a row at the goal line, maybe the problem of the play has already solved itself.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Eagles’ Disastrous Goal-Line Sequence Proves the Tush Push Might Really Be Dead.
