I have been intrigued by the conversations regarding the Tush Push Play in the NFL. More than outlawing the play my mind wanders to thinking of what a defense could do to stop the play or get rid of it altogether.
The one thing I thought of was what would I do if I was the defensive coordinator and this thought popped into my head. I would line up my front line guys but I would then get 4 of my biggest baddest linebackers and line 2 up to the left of the center and 2 to the right of center. The play will go either to the left or right. I would then have them back off approximately 5 to 6 yards back off of the line of scrimage. Then at the snap of the ball I would have them take that space to build up as much speed as possible and I would have them just absolutely crush the ball carrier or even if it is a shot to an offensive lineman that would be 2 to 4 guys absolutely trying to blow up the ball carrier or make the offensive linemen pay for burying their heads and moving forward. I wonder how many times they would want to have the ball carrier especially if it is the quarterback like Jalen Hurts be exposed to violent hits from guys getting a head start and then plowing into them or even lineman that are just trying to push forward ending up getting blindsided by a crushing hit.
Maybe that is how it has been defended and I just haven't paid more attention but someone is going to figure out some way of defending it even it is something like I am talking about that ends up having the NFL stop the play because of safety aspects resulting from such violent hits that could happen if defended this way.

NFL is supposedly looking to alter this play. I would think they’ll ban the push from the backside. It’s Football, not rugby!

The millisecond the ball is snapped the Qb has already dropped behind the center and guards so you'll never get a clean shot at him... You maybe able to get a shot at the guys pushing the Qb but that's about it... It may have been when the E-L-G-S-E-S played the Redskins in the playoff game and the Redskins Lb tried to anticipate the snap and jumping over the line. He did 2 or 3 times and the Ref threatened to throw him out and award Philly a TD without them actually scoring... Why does the offense get to form a scrub and pust the ball carrier 5 -10 yards but the second the pile stops moving or goes backwards the whistles blown???... Why not let the defense push the ball carrier 5-10 yards backwards for a loss of yards???... Assisting a ball carrier should be a penalty... Dan

If you stack the middle like that, they will just audible and beat you to the edge.

Let's just go to flag football with no contact and then they'll all be happy and all get trophies.

The "movement to ban" the play is really just a bunch of complaining about unfairness from teams that failed to defend or successfully run the tush push play themselves.

The reality is that it takes an incredible amount of grit, toughness, strength and coordination for an offensive line to get that sort of push off the line. It is not some sort of fluke or accident that the Eagles are so good at this play. They obviously put a tremendous amount of work into it.

The two main complaints against the tush push play are assisting the runner, and player safety. Both arguments are weak tea BS. The running back pushing the QB from behind is the least important factor of the play. The play is made by the linemen. And player safety... really, how it is different than any other play? Do linemen not line up against each other every single down, and try to push the other guy backwards? Does a runner not try to run in between those linemen on every single running play?

And for the record, I can't stand the Eagles. I want them to get beat 17 times next year. But I have a lot of begrudging respect for the way they execute the 1-yard plays.

It should be illegal to intentionally push the ball carrier forward. It's already illegal to pull him.

I'm not sure about the NFL, but pushing used to be illegal in college football. There was controversy about Reggie Bush pushing Matt Leinart across the goal line against Notre Dame about 20 years ago. It was called the Bush Push play and could have been penalized if the officials had called it.

As someone said already, it's not a football play. It's more like rugby or tug of war.

I have no objection to the offensive line blocking however they want. It's the intentional pushing that should be outlawed.

That's 100% what would happen.

I seem to recall that at one time it was illegal for a teammate to push or pull the ball carrier. I have vague memories (or maybe its those flashbacks they told me about back in the 60's) of a penalty being called in a Cowboy's game for that exact type of thing.

Jalen Hurts about to be playing football in Canada if this passes...

I think they should be able to use karate kicks to lay out the players.
A couple of defensive backs coming in Liu Kang style, and you will never see a qb sneak again.

Technically, If the player being pushed goes into the air, he is being carried which is illegal.
There is no way for the player not to be in the air at some point, so this play is illegal