Count Chris Simms as a tush push heretic.
The former QB-turned-analyst offered a startling counterweight to the Eagles' famed "brotherly shove", the move when their linemen pack the pocket like sardines and catapult QB Jalen Hurts beyond the first down marker on short-yard situations. Simms, who nearly died on the field after rupturing his spleen during a 2006 game, suggested that opposition defenses "head-hunt" the quarterback on plays when the tush push is used. His justification: it would be an effective deterrent.
"Go head-hunting on the quarterback here. Go ahead, let him have it," Simms said on the Monday Night Football recap show earlier in the week. "Dive over, go crazy. Try to kill the quarterback. That's what I would do."
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Simms' suggestion is baffling for numerous reasons. Firstly, it feels as if it's a call of arms against Philadelphia and, namely, Hurts, who has proven the most effective of all tush push advocates. Additionally, the desire to see anyone get injured — ostensibly a quite serious one — is disheartening in and of itself. But to hear that from a member of the quarterback union? Well, that's betrayal.
NBC Sports' Mike Florio denounced Simms' rhetoric, even acknowledging that it was Simms, and not him, who delivered such a brazen barb.
Still, it was a strange piece of advice by Simms, especially in a time of greater concern for player safety.
Given the nature of the NFL rulebook, it's unlikely that anyone would actually take Simms' tactics to heart. So, despite Simms best wishes, it seems the tush push could be here to stay. And what better way to dispatch your opps than to repeat the same mystifying misdirection game-after-game until someone proves they can stop you.
