NFL is trying to phase out QB sneaks with offside penalties

During Sunday’s game against the Rams, the Packers made two attempts to have Jordan Love run quarterback sneaks on fourth-and-1, but both times, Packers guard Jon Runyan was flagged for offside.

Runyan believes that the NFL has recently changed its approach to calling offside in an effort to crack down on the “tush push” version of the quarterback sneak, which the Eagles execute so effectively and which has been a subject of discussion about potentially banning.

“I guess it was a point of emphasis with the officials,” Runyan stated, as reported by SI.com. “I wish I would’ve been told that for the first one. It’s something that’s got to be communicated better. That’s the NFL trying to phase that play out slowly.”

Runyan explained that he has always positioned himself as close as possible to the line of scrimmage on short-yardage plays, and it had never been an issue until Sunday. However, he learned after the game that officials had been specifically instructed to watch for offensive linemen in the neutral zone during the “tush push.”

“Apparently, they send out a weekly video discussing that,” Runyan revealed. “Apparently, that was in the weekly video but I had no idea. I didn’t even know they sent out a weekly video on points of emphasis. That was on it [last] week and you can tell they were definitely looking for it because they called it twice on us.”

The Eagles also faced a penalty for offensive offside on one of their “tush push” plays this season when the officials inaccurately flagged guard Landon Dickerson for having his hand in the neutral zone instead of focusing on center Jason Kelce’s hand. Offensive linemen across the league need to be aware that this is a rule that officials are now enforcing strictly.