It was widely believed that the play was on the chopping block this week, but the Eagles pulled out all the stops, including flying in Jason Kelce for the meetings, to save their free touchdown play. Even after taking things to a second, more private session for further discussion, the ban did not receive the required 24 votes to pass. The ban could have shifted a few touchdowns from Jalen Hurts to Saquon Barkley, but the Eagles were always going to be the league’s best team in short-yardage situations. Hurts has at least 13 rushing touchdowns in each of the past three seasons. He remains a top-five fantasy quarterback with the tush push still in the playbook.

The NFL’s owners are currently discussing the play and will eventually vote on whether to ban the tush push or not. Russini noted that her sources expect the vote to pass. ESPN’s Adam Schefter is also on record saying he believes it will be banned. The new rule would seemingly only ban the push element of the play. Philly still has the best offensive line in football and a quarterback who can squat as much as a lineman. Even without a player giving him a boost from behind, we fully expect Jalen Hurts to be the league’s best quarterback in short-yardage situations.

Schefter didn’t cite any sources directly but reiterated the point later in the latest episode of The Adam Schefter Podcast, saying he “wouldn’t be surprised” if the owners voted to outlaw the play. Losing the free touchdown play would undoubtedly hurt Philly’s offense and Jalen Hurts’ fantasy outlook, but it’s hard to imagine a team with Hurts, an elite offensive line, and Saquon Barkley not finding other ways to get in the end zone from a yard out. If the tush push is banned, it would likely just shuffle some of Hurts’ touchdowns to Barkley. Other teams including the Bills have experimented with similar plays, but no one has found as much success as the Eagles. The owners will also be voting on a change to the playoff seeding rules. The proposed change would seed teams based purely on their record instead of each division winner earning a top-four seed. While that may be a more logical way to do things, it’s certainly less fun.

The game is set for Thursday, September 4, and will be carried on NBC and Peacock, our favorite network and streaming app. The defending Super Bowl champions will play host to the division rival Cowboys on a national stage that will also feature newly minted head coach Brian Schottenheimer. It’s a classic matchup that features two popular NFC East teams who could be headed in starkly different directions this season. While the Eagles will begin their title defense, Schottenheimer’s Cowboys are hoping to rebound from a 7-10 season with a roster that still has a lot of question marks heading into training camp.