It's been well documented that the Packers introduced a proposal to ban the **** push, citing player safety concerns and pace of play. I've got somewhat mixed feelings on the play.
1) The player safety issue is not really an issue, it is theoretical. There is no evidence that it has led to any significant injuries.
2) The pace of play seems to almost specifically refer to the playoff game versus Washington, where it took six **** push attempts to score due to all of the Washington penalties. That sequence wasn't pretty but it was an isolated incident and could be legislated differently without banning the play.
3) The Packers enjoyed the same kind of monopoly on the Lombardi Sweep. It wasn't the play necessarily that was unstoppable, but the personnel that Lombardi groomed were excellent executioners of the play. The same seems to apply to the **** Push. Any team can run it but you need the right players to execute it flawlessly to make it nearly unstoppable.
4) Fairness - defensive players aren't allowed to push from behind, so a LB can not push a DL from behind to stop the **** push. However, an offensive player can push the QB from behind.
4a) The NFL pendulum has swung WAY over towards the offense in recent decades. There are many things that the offense can do that the defense can not, such as hands to the face. This is no different.
I think that banning the play itself is a bit of an overstep. My solutions would be:
* Either allow the defense the same opportunity to push from behind, potentially leading to more injuries, or remove the ability for any player to push from behind to aid penetration. I would think that more pushing from behind would lead to more injuries, but since offensively it hasn't led to more injuries I would be inclined to allow the defense to do it for a season and then analyze the data the next offseason. This gives defenses a fair chance of stopping the play. Pushing from behind on kicking attempts would likely still be prohibited, but since FGs and XPs are such gimmes I would be tempted to allow it in all instances to see how things change. Wouldn't it be great if on the final drive of a close game, it's not a foregone conclusion that a team attempting a game-winning FG from the 20yd line will score?
* Change the rules to increase the penalty for committing the same or similar fouls on the same down. This would obviously require a lot of discussion to get correct. Essentially this would address the Washington/Philadelphia scenario from the playoffs. The Commanders committed 1 offsides and 3 encroachment penalties on that down. There could be a penalty escalation after the second penalty was committed.
How do you all feel?
