Is the Philadelphia Eagles’ “Tush Push” unstoppable?
Statistically, no, it’s not. Even at its peak in 2022, the play obtained a primary down on 93 p.c of makes an attempt — 25 of 27, together with 6 for six in Tremendous Bowl LVII. Final season, they have been right down to 83 p.c. However taken actually, that’s “stoppable” seven and seventeen p.c of the time.
However what about the way it feels to the staff it’s getting used towards? Does the ache prepare rolling behind 1600-odd kilos of blunt drive really really feel “stoppable” to the staff tasked with stopping it? Let’s ask Will Grier, backup quarterback for the 2022 Dallas Cowboys, recipient of many a Tush Push slammed instantly by way of their faces.
“It’s unstoppable,” stated Grier to ESPN earlier this season. Nicely, okay then.
There’s one thing concerning the Tush Push that simply feels unstoppable. Watching the Eagles each week, one yard looks like zero, particularly with Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts within the backfield, two progenitors of the offseason 600-pound-squat Instagram video. With that a lot muscle slammed right into a single central level on a soccer area, it has to really feel fairly hopeless.
The Tush Push’s dominance obtained me questioning about if it’s essentially the most unstoppable play in sports activities historical past. My intestine response was “no,” since I’m hard-wired to reject recency-bias-based takes which may seem on First Take or on native discuss radio. However after I obtained to eager about what play may very well be extra unstoppable, I hit a conceptual wall that not even the Tush Push may break by way of:
What even is a play? And what does unstoppable even imply?
We’re going to should reply each questions if we wish to crown a play essentially the most unstoppable in sports activities historical past, so let’s crack our knuckles and create complicated theoretical frameworks with which to reply a query that no person really requested. Who’s with me?
(cracks knuckles)
In my opinion, a play is one thing that appears to perform a purpose and progress the state of the sport. Clearly, passes or runs in soccer are performs, as are any photographs or saves in most sports activities which have a “taking pictures” ingredient. As well as, something “designed’ is a play, like a set piece in soccer or a pick-and-roll motion in basketball.
However there needs to be an order of magnitude right here. Small actions that the sports activities itself couldn’t exist with out will not be performs, resembling passes in basketball or hockey. Moreover, the protection needs to be given a chance to forestall the play’s success, which disqualifies issues like QB kneels. I’m additionally blanket eradicating kicking and punting in soccer, because the protection is put at a wild drawback in these circumstances.
For instance: in baseball or softball, an at-bat is a play, however a pitch just isn’t. It’s not just like the hitting staff is allowed to designate a participant to dive in entrance of the pitch earlier than it reaches the plate like Tom Cruise blocking a sniper bullet on the finish of Mission Inconceivable 8.
By this definition, no play within the historical past of sports activities has even been fully, statistically unstoppable. No play has a one hundred pc success charge, as long as we use a stringent sufficient definition. There’s additionally the query of problem and scale, so we’re going to have to choose some contenders with abnormally excessive success charges for his or her context after which see if our “unstoppable” definition helps us choose which one is the very best.
Listed here are the 4 contenders for the Most Unstoppable Play Ever Award (MUPE), which might be named after its inaugural winner:
The Contenders:
- Jacques Plante going through a shot within the NHL in 1970-1971 — Save Share: 94.4 p.c
- Shaquille O’Neal trying a shot inside 5 toes of the basket within the 2000-2001 NBA — Capturing Share: 75.1 p.c
- Philadelphia Eagles “Tush Push” in 2022 — First Down Fee: 92.5 p.c
- Barry Bonds entering into the batter’s field in 2004 — On Base Share: 60.9 p.c
Firstly, congratulations to all of the nominees. These stats are all totally ridiculous, born out of the great ability and exhausting work of the gamers concerned. However so as to slim down our checklist, we’re going to wish to depend on determining what “unstoppable” really means, since all of those are actually stoppable. In case your favourite is eradicated, I sincerely apologize.
First Minimize: 1970-1971 Jacques Plante going through a shot
Our first elimination goes to be Mr. Plante, and actually your complete sport of hockey. No disrespect to the Montreal Canadiens icon and really one of the vital gamers in hockey historical past — like, the dude principally invented the trendy goalkeeper place — however hockey is simply manner too fluid to name a save “essentially the most unstoppable play ever.” Plante’s file isn’t even that irregular for his time or for later years; he’s solely four-thousandths forward of second place, and several other current goaltenders have come inside placing distance, as just lately as Linus Ulmark two years in the past.
Fluidity is actually a difficulty right here, however Plante’s elimination additionally illuminates the difficulty of setting your personal objectives for the play versus having them set for you. Making saves was fairly actually his complete job, and the opposite staff had no alternative however to attempt to rating on him. There was no various, and Plante wasn’t actually deciding to make saves. He simply needed to, and he was nice at it.
Second Minimize: 2000-2001 Shaquille O’Neal inside 5 toes
Subsequent up, we’re axing the Massive Diesel and studying about how in the event you’re not dishonest, you’re not attempting. Sure, Shaquille O’Neal made 75 p.c of his photographs inside 5 toes, which is a positively insane quantity given what number of photographs he tried from that vary. It’s most likely not the best ever even adjusted for his big shot complete given what number of nice facilities the sport had in its early days, however the NBA has solely been monitoring vary information since 1997, so we go together with what we’ve got accessible to us.
The issue was that there was actually a blueprint to cease Shaq: foul him. Positive, it’s not technically authorized, however Shaq by no means may work out tips on how to hit free throws and make groups pay for hack-whack-and-smacking him each time he caught the ball within the paint. He nonetheless felt unstoppable if he obtained a deep seal and was a lot damaging even with the blueprint out on his weak spot, however he can’t win the MUPE award with out making free throws. Possibly in a special timeline Shaq did have essentially the most unstoppable play, within the horrifying universe of an 85 p.c free throw-shooting titan. However sadly, it’s not this one.
Runner-Up: The 2022 Philadelphia Eagles “Tush Push”
Winner: 2004 Barry Bonds at bats
Once more, congratulations to the Eagles for making the checklist, however they’re going to fall quick by the hands of Barry Bonds and his medicinally-enhanced on base proportion. Like I stated, with the MUPE award, in the event you’re not dishonest, you’re not attempting.
The 2022 Tush Push is statistically rather more unstoppable than Bonds getting on base — we’re speaking 92.5 p.c to 60.9 p.c — however the cash is made within the wonderful print. Whereas the Eagles’ success charge on the Tush Push was (and nonetheless is) a really efficient strategy to get one yard, it’s not like they’re the one staff in historical past to be good at getting one yard.
The Eagles’ 2022 quantity seems to be fairly unreal till you see Tom Brady’s profession QB sneak proportion: 90.5 p.c. That’s solely two p.c worse, which is vital over time however not practically as vital as how nuts Bonds was in comparison with his friends. 60.9 p.c appears fairly stoppable — opposing groups have been getting Bonds out 39.1 p.c of the time — till you understand how fully untenable that quantity is in fashionable baseball.
Listed here are just a few stats to seal this argument: in 2004, Bonds’ 60.9 p.c was 14 whole p.c increased than second place Todd Helton, whose 46.9 p.c would nonetheless be higher than the very best season of each single participant presently within the MLB not named Juan Soto, who obtained on base 49 p.c of the time in 2020.
However Soto is the exception that proves the rule: Bonds is the one participant since 1960 to get on base greater than 49 p.c of the time. Even his different steroid-era buddies couldn’t measure up. And even when we embrace pre-1960 numbers when pitchers weren’t practically as expert and velocity hadn’t taken over the sport, he’s nonetheless 5 complete p.c away from Ted Williams in 1941.
The Tush Push’s unstoppability could also be extra of a operate of its objectives than its precise capacity. Its goal is simply to get one yard, one thing NFL groups are fairly good at typically. However Bonds created a statistical straightjacket for opposing pitchers: no staff can plan for somebody getting on base that a lot, and usually assume the very best gamers they’ll face might be someplace round 42 p.c.
Trendy-era pitchers had actually no reply relative to what else they have been coping with. All issues thought of, Bonds entering into the batter’s field in 2004 is essentially the most unstoppable play in sports activities historical past, making Barry Bonds the winner of the inaugural Most Unstoppable Play Ever award. He could by no means get into the Baseball Corridor of Fame, however I hope he takes delight on this accomplishment. He actually sacrificed a variety of credibility to get there.