Eagles lineman calls latest tush push criticism ‘bullcrap’ after win over Chiefs: ‘It makes my blood boil’
Philadelphia Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata has had it with the “tush push” criticism.
Mailata ripped critics of the Eagles’ trademark play during an appearance with 94 WIP on Tuesday, just days after they held on to grab a 20-17 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
“You know I think it's bullcrap,” Mailata said, via ESPN. “I just think it's rubbish. Absolute rubbish, man. It makes my blood boil just thinking about it."
While it’s not the tush push itself that is drawing such renewed criticism in recent days — the play has been around for years, and it survived another movement to ban it this past offseason — it’s how the Eagles were seen utilizing it in Kansas City that left fans upset.
There was at least one replay from Sunday’s contest that showed a pair of Eagles lineman moving well before the snap on a tush push that resulted in a Jalen Hurts touchdown in the fourth quarter, though a false start penalty wasn't called. That even drew criticism from Fox analyst Tom Brady on the broadcast.
Refs miss a false start on the Eagles on this tush push touchdown pic.twitter.com/3WbK8gkb5X
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) September 14, 2025
"The 'Brotherly Shove' is awfully impossible to stop," Brady said. "When you get a false start penalty like that, it's even harder to stop. They missed that one pretty bad."
Chiefs coach Andy Reid called out the false starts after the game, too. While that’s not the reason that the Chiefs lost by any means, it certainly didn’t help. And if the Eagles are getting an advantage by leaving earlier than they should, it’s only going to make the play harder to stop.
In total, the Eagles converted four first downs and scored a touchdown while using the tush push on Sunday against the Chiefs. Only one of their six attempts was stopped.
While Mailata gets why fans may not like the play itself, the veteran lineman isn’t here for fans blaming the team’s success on that play. That, he said, is “incredibly disrespectful.”
"I understand the outrage [over the tush push],” he said. “What I don't understand is them using it as an excuse to why we won the game. I think it's incredibly disrespectful to our defense and our special teams who balled out. And my brothers on defense and special teams who balled out that game, who had our backs when we weren't moving the ball or weren't doing anything.
"That pisses me off because we give so much to this game and to kind of base off a short-yardage play, that is a football play. And say that we won the game off that, but not how our defense played and not how our special teams have played, putting us in those positions.”