Mike Greenberg has had enough of the tush push.
The Eagles ran their signature play four times in a row Thursday night against the Giants, and ESPN’s Get Up host spent Friday morning apologizing on behalf of the NFL to anyone who had to watch it happen.
“And then came the tush push portion of the evening,” Greenberg said on Friday’s show. “On behalf of the National Football League and its fans, I apologize to anyone who had to sit through this.”
“On behalf of the National Football League and its fans, I apologize to anyone who had to sit through this,” – Mike Greenberg on the Eagles running four straight tush pushes. pic.twitter.com/Wi0vz0XbG8
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 10, 2025
Philadelphia wound up running four straight tush pushes inside the Giants’ 5-yard line in the second quarter before Jalen Hurts finally punched it in for a touchdown. The sequence drew howls from fans and analysts alike, with replays showing Eagles offensive lineman Tyler Steen clearly moving early on the second attempt, a fourth-and-inches play, without drawing a flag. Giants coach Brian Daboll was visibly livid on the sideline after watching the replay.
A missed false start on the #Eagles tush push. Brian Daboll is LIVID after seeing this play. pic.twitter.com/s6k3WbtN7a
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) October 10, 2025
“To the amusement of no one,” Greenberg said of the four-play sequence. “They’re jumping early; no one cares. It’s ridiculous, but whatever.”
Greenberg then offered a solution borrowed from baseball’s recent rule changes.
“Why don’t we just award them a touchdown?” he added. “You know they award a walk now on four straight pitches, so you don’t have to waste the time sitting through this garbage.”
The tush push has become the most polarizing play in football, and Thursday night’s sequence perfectly captured why. It’s virtually unstoppable when the Eagles run it, officials struggle to catch penalties in real time, and the repetitive nature of watching Philadelphia line up and push forward four consecutive times has turned the play into fodder for ESPN’s morning shows.
NFL owners voted on banning the play this past offseason, but the measure fell two votes short. That decision allowed the defending Super Bowl champions to continue using their most effective weapon, even as complaints about the play have only grown louder throughout the season.
And for those like Greenberg, Thursday night’s four-play sequence represented everything frustrating about the tush push. It’s effective, but it’s not particularly entertaining. It works, but it doesn’t feel like football. And when officials can’t catch obvious penalties on the play, the frustration only compounds.
The irony is that the tush push helped give the Eagles a 17-13 lead in the second quarter. Then the Giants proceeded to dominate the rest of the game, winning 34-17 behind rookies Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo in one of the season’s biggest upsets. Philadelphia’s signature play wasn’t enough to save them from an embarrassing loss to a 1-4 team on national TV.
But that won’t stop the debate. The tush push isn’t going anywhere this season, and neither are the complaints about it.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.