Competition Committee had "heated" meeting on proposed tush push limitation

The Competition Committee gathered on Sunday to review the various proposed rule changes from the teams. The elephant in the room is the play that unfolds like a collision between two hippos.

Via Kalyn Kahler of ESPN.com, the committee had a "heated" discussion regarding the Packers' proposed tweak to the tush push.

The headline to the article indicates that the proposal has "support" within the Competition Committee. It's unclear whether the committee made a formal recommendation to the owners to act on Green Bay's proposal.

There are nevertheless strong feelings on the current rule, which has resulted in the Eagles essentially shrinking the distance between the orange sticks.

"It's weak," an unnamed team executive told Kahler regarding the proposal. "It's punishing a team who became excellent at executing the play. In 2022, when Philadelphia was the only team doing it, there was a concern that it made the game less compelling because fourth-and-short was no longer in doubt. Then other teams copied it, and they can't do it as well. . . . It reeks of jealousy."

Momentum for a change was sparked by the incident from the NFC Championship, when multiple offsides fouls by the Commanders nearly resulted in the awarding of a touchdown under the never-used "palpably unfair act" language of the rulebook. One source described the outcome to Kahler as a "shitshow."

The debate over the change could become one, too. Kahler reports that, on Sunday, Eagles G.M. Howie Roseman, assistant G.M. Jon Ferrari, and Rams coach Sean McVay and Bills coach Sean McDermott had a "private and animated side conversation" about the proposed change.

The proposal remains vague. As previously noted, it bans only an "immediate" push after the snap. It doesn't prevent a second-act shove, after the first push by the offensive line. Thus, to the extent there is concern about the look of the play, the current rule won't change that very much, if at all.

Hovering over the entire discussion is the fact that nothing will change unless at least 24 teams want it to change. If at least nine teams are fine with the status quo, the tush push will be going nowhere. And if there's a spirited debate cutting both ways on the topic, it's hard to imagine at least 75 percent of the owners deciding to change the play.