Undefeated Eagles plan to run successful 'Brotherly Shove' as long as it's legal

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Others teams have tried to emulate it, but nobody does the “Brotherly Shove” quite like the originator: the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Eagles attempted the “Brotherly Shove” six times and produced four successful conversions on the way to a 23-14 road win over the Los Angeles Rams. The only two that weren’t successful were in garbage time late in the fourth quarter with the game already in hand.

The play has nearly been automatic for the Eagles. It’s led the squad to have a 43.6% third-down conversion percentage and a 71.4% fourth-down conversation percentage entering Week 5. Philadelphia converted 13 of 18 third downs in Sunday’s win against the Rams.

“It’s something that we have been able to do at a high level,” Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said. “It’s clear that it doesn’t always work for everybody else. We just want to continue to execute whenever it is called.”

What makes the “Brotherly Shove” so successful?

The Eagles have a great offensive line and a strong quarterback with superb lower body strength.

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“The guys up front and Jalen back their driving. He’s a strong guy himself, so when he’s back their driving behind a strong O-line, you’re gonna push for those yards,” Eagles guard Sua Opeta told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s nothing crazy. We’re all getting down there. We’re firing off the rock. The D-line knows it’s coming. It’s just who’s stronger and who’s gonna drive each other back.”

The most brash “Brotherly Shove” play came after an Eagles timeout with two seconds remaining in the first half on the Rams’ one-yard line. Everybody inside SoFi Stadium knew what the Eagles were running. Despite the obvious formation with a running back and tight end lined up closely behind Hurts and the offensive line in a tight formation, Eagles center Jason Kelce hiked the football to Hurts and the quarterback muscled his way behind the offensive line into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown to give Philadelphia a 17-14 halftime lead.

“We all knew it was coming. We wanted to run the tush push or the brotherly shove. We have a lot of confidence in it, maybe too much confidence in it,” Kelce said postgame. “In general, we are really, really good at it. We have a quarterback that’s great at it, coaches that coach it well.”

NFL and NFLPA planning to review “Brotherly Shove” after season

The Brotherly Shove has become a somewhat controversial play. The NFL reviewed the play last offseason, and it’s anticipated that the NFL’s competition committee will revisit the play and the NFL and NFLPA will look at injury data related to the play this offseason, a person familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

But for the remainder of the 2023 NFL season, the “Brotherly Shove” will continue. And the 5-0 Eagles are not only the creators, they are the best at it.

“We are gonna keep doing it as long as they keep letting us do it,” Kelce said. “I think everybody is complaining about it, so we’ll see how long that lasts. But it’s won us games, and at this point multiple games.”

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.