The Eagles were one of the most effective teams in short-yardage situations during the 2022 NFL season, and it was thanks largely to their ability to execute the quarterback sneak at a high level.
Philadelphia's preferred quarterback sneak was a rugby scrum-style play during which Jalen Hurts would push forward with the ball while another player — usually a running back or tight end — pushed him from behind. It was hard for teams to stop that momentum and power, and that's how the Eagles earned first downs on 29 of their 32 sneaks during the season.
While the strategy was certainly effective, it has also drawn the ire of NFL rule-makers — more specifically, the league's competition committee — as they meet at the 2023 NFL Combine. The league may consider a rule change that would disallow that type of play as a result.
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Naturally, the Eagles brass isn't pleased with that development and took time to defend the team's approach at the combine on Tuesday.
"All I know is everything we're doing is legal and it works," Eagles executive vice president and general manager Howie Roseman said, per ESPN. "And just because people do something that's really good doesn't mean it should be outlawed."
Meanwhile, coach Nick Sirianni said that the Eagles would "play with whatever rules they have" regarding the NFL's decision.
He was also quick to point out that the efficacy of the sneak set up some exciting plays for the Eagles. And it could lead to more in the future.
"Obviously, it was a very successful play for us," Sirianni said of the sneak. "But it wasn't the only thing we were doing [in those situations]. I think we had some exciting plays that came off of it, when the defenses were trying to stop the [push] play that they thought was coming. And that's kind of what football is, right?"
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The Eagles weren't alone in their defense of the sneak play. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll believes that the NFL should allow teams to keep running it.
Why? Because he believes more teams will adopt it and it will create "an opportunity for the game to evolve."
"I didn't [initially] understand or didn't realize how far they had gone with their commitment in terms of it looking like a rugby play in a scrum," Carroll explained. "I thought that was an evolutionary opportunity for the league.
"The fact that they're entertaining the thought of maybe not allowing it to happen in some form or fashion, I get that because they're clinging to what we know and may not be willing to go where we don't know. But it's going to affect third-down [and] second-down playcalling, so I was excited about it and I thought it was cool."
Perhaps coaches like Sirianni and Carroll will have a chance to sway the competition committee as they consider changes to that rule. They will have to get a bug in the ear of the four coaches on that panel — Frank Reich, Ron Rivera, Mike Tomlin and Mike Vrabel — to make that happen.
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Of course, the final decision regarding rule changes doesn't lie with the committee; it belongs to the owners. Presently, 24 of 32 owners (75 percent) must vote to institute a rule change. So, if Sirianni and Carroll can convince their owners to allow the rule to remain unchanged, just seven more votes would be required to strike it down.
It will be interesting to see what happens to the Eagles' vaunted "Two-Cheek Sneak" either way. But as it stands, that play is in jeopardy of becoming a thing of the past.
