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Adam Schefter Getting Testy with John Kincade is a Result of the Whitewashing Problem Created by the Tush Push
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Adam Schefter ruffled some feathers when he went on Get Up the other day and proclaimed that the Eagles/Chiefs game was lost in March. It was a half-minute take about the Tush Push, which ended up being the big talking point after the 20-17 road win. Here’s that clip, followed by John Kincade calling Schefter on it Wednesday morning:
First of all, kudos to John for going there with Schefty. The comments were relatively harmless in the grand scheme of things, but offensive at the same time for the reasons Kincade lists. Schefter’s gum flapping made it seem like the Eagles have the Tush Push and nothing else, which, of course, is fugazi. It’s balderdash and poppycock, as Joe Biden would say.
This right here is a good snapshot of the larger problem with Tush Push discourse. It leaves behind this residual whitewashing of everything the Eagles do well, because the news cycle is dominated by shove controversy and all of the charged opinions that come with it. We at Crossing Broad are guilty of bandwidth malpractice ourselves, because the Tush Push ends up being topic 1A and generating four different stories, like Cowboy lover Dean Blandino complaining that he has to litigate the play when that’s exactly what he’s paid to do. The end result is that we wind up not dedicating enough time to topics 2, 3, 4, and 5, which in this case could be the Andrew Mukuba interception, the stout defensive performance overall, the lack of turnovers committed by Jalen Hurts and the offense, and the fact that Jake fucking Elliott is totally back. Jake the Make! Jake the Make!
A good way to look at this is by asking yourself a question –
What would the Eagles have without the Tush Push?
They would still have one of the league’s best defenses and kickers. They would still have the league’s best running back. They would still have DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown and Dallas Goedert. They would still have a QB who squats 600 pounds and runs the ball as well as anyone. Seriously. It’s so dumb. Think about what they could run in the red zone. They could run a regular QB sneak and probably get in. Halfback dive to Saquon. Play-action and something shallow, through traffic, to Goedert. QB power or go empty set and run Jalen through the A gap, like they did with Shane Steichen. If you took away the push, which they probably will next summer, it probably would not change much at all. That’s something I look forward to seeing, the Eagles shoving it down everyone’s throats even without the play.
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Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com