Ref threatens Commanders with touchdown rule after three insane penalties trying to stop Eagles’ tush push

Ref threatens Commanders with touchdown rule after three insane penalties trying to stop Eagles’ tush push

The NFC Championship game got silly.

But it revealed a rule most probably weren’t even aware of.

The Eagles, leading 34-23, drove all the way down to the Commanders’ 1-yard line early in the fourth quarter.

Philadelphia tried, and failed, its vaunted tush push on first down, but Jonathan Allen was called for offsides.

The Eagles lined right back up in the formation and tried the tush push again, but were stuffed.

That’s when the Commanders turned the game into a circus.

The Eagles line up in their tush-push formation during their NFC Championship game against the Commanders on Jan. 26, 2025.
The Eagles line up in their tush-push formation during their NFC Championship game against the Commanders on Jan. 26, 2025. Screengrab

As the Eagles lined up yet again in the tush-push formation, the Commanders were called for three-straight encroachment penalties — two on Frankie Luvu and one on Allen — while trying to get a jump on the snap.

Eventually, the referees moved the ball about as close to the end zone as possible.

And after the third encroachment penalty, crew chief Shawn Hochuli announced that “Washington has been advised that at some point the referee can award a score if this type of behavior happens again.”

Shawn Hochuli makes an announcement during the Eagles-Commanders NFC Championship game on Jan. 26, 2025.
Shawn Hochuli makes an announcement during the Eagles-Commanders NFC Championship game on Jan. 26, 2025. Screengrab

The Commanders heeded the warning and did not commit another encroachment penalty, and Jalen Hurts subsequently scored on a tush push with ease to increase the Eagles’ lead to 41-23 with the extra point.

Later in the quarter, Saquon Barkley scored — his third touchdown of the game — to increase the Eagles’ lead to 48-23 before they won, 55-23, to advance to Super Bowl 2025.

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