The Philadelphia Eagles have developed a reputation in the NFL this season for having one of the biggest and strongest offensive lines in the league.

They also appear to have combined some very smart tactics in order to quite literally push teams around the park utilising their ‘tush push’ move – one of the side’s signature plays for the 2024-25 season.

In fact, the play, which has garnered some criticism in the past, has helped Nick Sirianni’s side reach the Super Bowl twice over the past three years. But can they use it to win tonight’s game? 

They come up against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, who are out to win their third-straight тιтle at the Superdome in New Orleans. 

And there is no doubt Andy Reid’s side will have worked on a plan to disrupt the Eagles attempts to stop the tush push, as they did during the 2023 Super Bowl after the Eagles had appeared to almost perfect the move during the 2022-23 season.

That year the Eagles utilised the move 36 times out of a possible 39 attempts at a success rate of 92.3 per cent, according to CBS Sports. 

The Philadelphia Eagles tush push play is revered as one of the most ‘unstoppable plays around the league 

At the heart of the move is Aussie star Jordan Mailata, a New South Wales-born left tackle who forms a focal part of the destructive play 

The move, which has been described as the equivalent of creating a ‘truck with four-wheel drive’, sees the Eagles pack down and maul their way through the defensive line.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts collects the ball and is shielded by multiple offensive linemen. They form a battering ram with Hurts in the middle and attempt to punch a hole through the defensive line in order to seal quick and short yardage gains.

It has been used plenty this season by the Eagles, with Australian left tackle Jordan Mailata at the heart of the tush push.

Mailata, a former Sydney Rabbitohs star, is often credited with the success of the move, with the 365lbs Bankstown-born star fronting the play alongside left guard Landon Dickerson, who weighs 332lbs. 

Meanwhile, the quarterback is supported behind him by a running back and a тιԍнт end, who follow up behind.

While the Eagles’ success rate is believed to have dipped slightly this season to 82.4 per cent during the regular season when using the move, the tush push is expected to be used at some stage during tonight’s Super Bowl. 

‘It’s like a truck with four-wheel drive,’ centre Cam Jurgens said on the move.

‘If something goes wrong, like a flat tyre or this or that it’s not gonna work. It’s all of us moving together in unison.’

Mailata was born in Bankstown and had played for Canterbury and the South Sydney Rabbitohs before he was drafted to the Eagles in the 2018 NFL Draft 

The move sees quarterback Jalen Hurts be shoved through the defensive line by his offensive linemen

Mailata, began his playing career in the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs U18s side, before joining up with the Rabbitohs’ U20s squad.

He’d play a handful of games for the Sydney side, before NFL recruitment bosses caught wind of his talents on the footy pitch and invited him out to trial on the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program, before ultimately going on to join the Eagles as the 233rd pick in the 2018 NFL draft.

Seven years later the 6ft 8in left tackle finds himself set to play in America’s biggest sporting event and is a pivotal cog in the move that could potentially win the Eagles their first тιтle since 2018.

The move’s success in the past means it has garnered some controversy, notably as the Eagles used it to such success against the Commanders in the NFC Championship game.

Green Bay Packers president Mark Murphy notably called on the league to ban the play, after the commanders were almost docked a score for being offside on multiple occasions as they attempted to stop the play.

‘I am not a fan of this play,’ Murphy said this week.

‘There is no skill involved and it is almost an automatic first down on plays of a yard or less. 

‘The series of plays with the Commanders jumping offsides in the NFC Championship Game to try to stop the play was ridiculous. 

The move has been so devastating for the Eagles in the past that other teams have struggled to defend it

The 6ft 8in left tackle finds himself set to play in America’s sporting event, seven years after being drafted to the NFL 

‘The referee even threatened to give the Eagles an automatic touchdown if the Commanders did not stop it. I would like to see the league prohibit pushing or aiding the runner [QB] on this play.’

But while the play has garnered controversy, some Chiefs stars aren’t too phased by the move.

‘I have no thoughts on it really. It’s awesome,’ he said Tuesday. ‘They do a great job with it.

He continued, ‘I don’t think it should be banned… You got to be able to stop the play, I guess. It’s a legal play, so you gotta be able to stop it. Up to the defence to stop it. So they do a great job with it, and they’re really successful.’