Jason Kelce’s teammate compares tush push to Tom Brady’s QB sneak plays with Bill Belichick - “Just the basic quarterback sneak”
Tom Brady racked up a sneaky-high number of rushing touchdowns in his time courtesy of the quarterback sneak. Now, one year after his retirement and four years since he ran them with Bill Belichick, Lane Johnson compared Philadelphia's 'tush-push' to an old Brady sneak.
Here's how the Eagles offensive tackle put it on Friday's edition of Good Morning Football:
"[00:00:19] It's just the basic quarterback sneak. I remember Tom Brady being very good at this play in New England for a long time.... It's just one of these plays that you run... and then over the past two years, it's just been highly successful and something that we've been really good at. ... For now, it's legal and we'll probably keep running it. [00:01:05]"
Of course, NFL fans would be quick to point out one key difference between the two versions - the additional helpers standing behind Jalen Hurts delivering an additional push.
Back in Tom Brady's day, it would be up to only him to push or jump over the center into the end zone. Occasionally, he'd choose to dive to the right or the left depending on the look he was getting at the line of scrimmage.
How many rushing touchdowns did Tom Brady have?
Over the course of his 23-year career, Brady had 28 rushing touchdowns. The vast majority of them came via the quarterback sneak as No. 12 was arguably the polar opposite of signal-callers like Michael Vick and Lamar Jackson.
Of course, the quarterback did sneak across the line of scrimmage for a first down often as well.
That said, in most years, he would log three or fewer rushing touchdowns. Over the last two years, Jalen Hurts has earned 28 rushing touchdowns. Many of those have come as the result of the tush push.
According to Pro Football Reference, Jalen Hurts has earned at least 40 percent of the yards required for a first down. He has 60 percent of the yards required on second down and 100 percent of the yards required for a first down on third or fourth down on 61.9 percent of rushing plays.
In comparison, Brady never eclipsed that total. His best year in the statistic was in 2021 (away from the New England Patriots) with a successful rush percentage of 53.6 at the time. One quarterback has had access to the tush push and one has not.
If the NFL outlaws the tush push in 2024, will Jalen Hurts maintain a similar rushing success rate and the same number of rushing touchdowns?
If any of the above quotes are used, credit Good Morning Football and H/T Sportskeeda.