If the Eagles are going to keep false-starting on their signature tush push plays, other NFL teams might try something illegal, too.
Some defenses around the league are adopting a new tactic that's forbidden in the rulebook to combat the Eagles' quarterback sneak this season, ESPN's Kalyn Kahler reported. The ploy is called "disconcerting signals" and, if caught by the officials, warrants a 15-yard penalty.
Kahler explained how the Chiefs might have tried it during their Week 2 loss to the Eagles based on a mic'd up video from the game. In the video, the Eagles are about to execute the tush push on a 3rd-and-short, and Jalen Hurts could be heard shouting his cadence: "Delta set!" Chiefs players could then be heard shouting, "Go, go!" and some undistinguishable sounds before the snap, perhaps to try and throw Hurts off his rhythm.
Take a listen below:
Everyone saw the missed false start here, but listen closely to Hurts' cadence and the sounds coming from the DL.... that's potentially a 15-yd penalty for disconcerting signals- a new part of the defensive evolution to stop the tush pushhttps://t.co/0hcuIQAOvW pic.twitter.com/0jOOB05UIs
— Kalyn Kahler (@kalynkahler) September 24, 2025
According the unsportsmanlike conduct section of the NFL rulebook, defensive players are prohibited from "using acts or words... that are designed to disconcert an offensive team at the snap."
Kahler noted that the penalty has not been called since 2017, though a fan pointed out that Eagles' Brandon Graham got penalized for effectively the same thing in '22: calling out a fake snap cadence during an opposing field goal. However, the officials ruled it a 5-yard delay of game penalty.
As shown in the Eagles-Chiefs video, the disconcerting signals penalty might be just as difficult—if not more so—to officiate as the Eagles' false starts due to the loud crowd noise in stadiums and the specifics of the infraction.
"It's only a foul if the defense intentionally mimics the quarterback cadence to try to draw the offense into a false start," ESPN rules analyst Russell Yurk explained. "That's very hard for officials to know, especially when they are 12–15 yards away from the line. Officials generally don't want to call such a subjective foul based only on what they hear because it's hard to show on tape, it's hard to justify it."
As controversy over the Eagles' tush push play continues to mount, NFL teams might be finding creative, though dishonest, ways to try and stop the inevitable play. Expect this saga to be far from over.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL Teams Could Start to Use Illegal New Tactic to Stop Eagles’ Tush Push .
