The Philadelphia Eagles have mastered the art of the quarterback sneak by getting their offensive line low and using players lined up behind QB Jalen Hurts to shove him forward through the carnage left by the collision up front. It’s a play that’s earned them countless additional sets of downs and touchdowns. The San Francisco 49ers will need to be ready to defend it when they visit the Eagles on Sunday, but they’re preparing for it by not practicing against it.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Wednesday talked about the so called “tush push” and how the 49ers are coaching to defend that play.
“You just coach it up, tell them where we want guys and stuff,” Shanahan said. “We’re not going to spend a lot of time on it, but we’re going to talk about it, show it, and do as good as we can.”
Ideally the 49ers would keep the Eagles out of third and fourth and short, but those plays will inevitably happen. Surely they’ll watch film on the play and try to come up with solutions based on the failures of other clubs, but it’s a dangerous enough play that practicing it is out of the question.
“We’re going to do like 10 live reps of it today and see if we have anybody left after it,” Shanahan joked. “No, you don’t practice it.”
Hurts and the Eagles have mastered that play, and in a game that’s sure to be close between two of the NFC’s Goliaths, the 49ers’ potential solutions for it could be the difference between a win and loss.
