This unfortunately does no good for K.C. now.
Sep 18, 2025 8:39 PM EDT
There was a bit of controversy during the Kansas City Chiefs’ Week 2 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Philadelphia’s offense executed its infamous “Tush Push” several times throughout the game. The legality of the play has been in question since the Eagles starting using it consistently a few years ago.
It was nearly banned by the NFL’s competition committee during the offseason, but fell two votes short. Multiple players along Philadelphia’s offensive line appeared to false start and lineup offsides on more than one occasion while running the “Tush Push” against the Chiefs last week.
According to Mark Maske of The Washington Post, the NFL determined in its official’s training tape that Philadelphia should have been called for a false start while executing the “Tush Push” on a third-and-one play at the 5:29 mark of the fourth quarter.
The league also stated that they want the play tightly officiated from here on out, particularly with early movement.
Had the Eagles been called for a false start as they should have, they would have faced a third-and-six from their own 20-yard line. Who knows if they would have converted it or not, but the Chiefs’ defense played very well in the game, particularly against the pass.
Kansas City would have also been able to save all three of its timeouts, which it had to burn after the three following Eagles offensive plays. The Chiefs scored a touchdown on their next possession, but never got the ball back as Philadelphia was able to run the clock out on its final drive.
We can’t say definitively that the ultimate outcome would have been different for Kansas City if the false start was called, but its frustrating that everyone except the officials clearly saw the penalty. While it’s nice to know that the league is going to (hopefully) crack down on the “Tush Push” moving forward, that doesn’t do the Chiefs any good now.