Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, center, runs the "tush push" play against the New York Giants on Oct. 26 in Philadelphia. (AP file photo)

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers couldn’t thwart the tush push during the offseason.

Now they must try to find a way to stop it in a game.

Green Bay proposed a ban on the play during the offseason, a measure that fell two votes short of passage.

That has enabled the Philadelphia Eagles to continue using the short-yardage play in their Super Bowl title defense.

The Eagles (6-2) beat the Packers (5-2-1) twice last season — including a playoff victory — and face them again tonight at Lambeau Field.

“We know it’s coming,” Packers defensive lineman Karl Brooks said. “Really, I look forward to the challenge of just stopping it and getting a turnover on downs, whether it’s fourth-and-1 or third-and-1. But it is an annoying play to deal with.”

The Eagles have been ruthlessly efficient in converting short-yardage situations by having quarterback Jalen Hurts sneak while teammates line up behind him and push him forward.

Mark Murphy, the Packers’ president/CEO at the time, proposed banning the play before his July retirement. A rule that would have prohibited offensive players from pushing, pulling, lifting, grasping or encircling a runner was supported by a 22-10 vote of NFL owners, but it needed a three-quarters majority according to league bylaws.

“When you look at the play, I would say I don’t think it’s a great football play,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said during the NFL owners meetings in April when a ban was under discussion. “It’s more of a rugby play. And then some of the injury concerns. We just want to kind of get out in front of that and be a little bit more proactive.”‘

LaFleur wasn’t nearly as talkative when he was asked about the tush push Thursday.

“Guys, I’m not going to get into it,” LaFleur said. “It is what it is. You know, the NFL made a decision, and we have to find a way to try to stop the play, and it’s a tough play to stop.”

Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni says he hasn’t thought much about the fact that the Eagles are facing the team that tried banning the play. Sirianni also said he didn’t care one way or another about how the tush push irritates some opponents.

“I try not to get wrapped up into things that are out of my control, and so I don’t have an opinion either way,” Sirianni said. “This is the rule, this is what we’ll play by with the rule, and we’ll go from there.”

The Eagles started using the tush push in 2021. According to Sportradar, when the Eagles have attempted a quarterback sneak while facing third-and-1 or fourth-and-1 (including goal-to-go situations), they have converted 85.9% of the time since 2021. Their worst efficiency rate in those situations since then has come this season, when they’ve converted 13 of 17 times.

The league-wide conversion rate on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 situations (not limited to quarterback sneaks) was 70.7% in 2021, 67.3% in 2022, 69% in 2023, 70.1% in 2024 and 68.8% this season heading into Sunday’s games.

Philadelphia’s use of the tush push makes the Eagles particularly difficult to stop when approaching the goal line. The Eagles have scored touchdowns on 85% of their red zone possessions this season, the best conversion rate by any team through the first eight games of a season since Seattle in 2020.

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AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

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