Crossing Broad
On Monday morning’s episode of Get Up!, ESPN’s roundtable discussion show that regularly features reporters and analysts across the network, Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter took his seat and proceeded to diagnose the reason the Eagles were able to secure an impressive, if ugly, road win in Kansas City in Week 2 of this young NFL season:
“This game was lost in March,” Schefter declared. “This game was lost when the NFL owners refused to ban the Tush Push from happening. It wasn’t lost yesterday. It was lost in March. And there might be a lot of games that the Eagles play that are lost in March, because this play is unstoppable. Not only does a defense not know how to handle it, but even the officials don’t know how to handle it. You’ve seen the Eagles’ linemen jump offsides every play, and nothing’s called! So the officials have no idea; defenses have no idea; and the Eagles get to do whatever they want on every single play in the Tush Push – and, again, I know people hate it, but they have mastered it. They have dominated the line of scrimmage.”
Schefter has a well-earned reputation as the NFL’s Master of Whisperers, a man so plugged into his beat that he’s often the first among a horde of competitors to break news about the latest transaction, player injury, contract dispute, coaching change, or league office directive. He trades in information, and his customers range from front office executives and coaches to agents angling for any edge they can gain for their clients. When he speaks, people listen – often because he’s speaking for someone else.
And so, it is fair to ask, as Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Mike Sielski wondered, if Schefter was channeling the frustrations of NFL power brokers who are determined to eradicate the Tush Push. This exasperation is among the worst-kept secrets in the game. In fact, it isn’t a secret at all. The Packers made their own push to ban the play in the offseason, and it became clear as the proceedings unwound that Commissioner Roger Goodell was supportive of the effort.
Although the Tush Push lived to see another season, the vexation abides. Fox’s in-house rules analyst and former NFL officiating executive Dean Blandino essentially threw in the towel on Sunday as he complained about the difficulty of assessing the play. Social media was ablaze with analysts and fans whining about the Eagles lining up offside and jumping the snap, adding to an already unfair advantage.
Bill Cowher joined The Dan Patrick Show to add his own two cents, comparing the play to a rugby scrum and deeming it unsafe and “not a good-looking play.” –
Et tu, Coach Cowher? Has all that time in CBS’s air-conditioned studio softened the old-school football coach who once patrolled the Pittsburgh Steelers sideline like a Marine Corps drill instructor?
In my opinion, Schefter likely wasn’t parroting anybody. He was simply playing a character on a show with a...
