Detroit has quietly taken a smart—and very Detroit—approach to football’s hottest (and quirkiest) short-yardage dilemma: the “tush push.” Rather than demanding a league-wide ban, Lions head coach Dan Campbell has pushed back with a counterintuitive strategy: keep the play legal, but design a defense to stop it.
Campbell calls himself a “purist,” saying removing the play feels like erasing part of the game’s physical, strategic character. “If you take something out of the game, pretty soon you don’t have pads anymore,” he told reporters.
Instead of rule changes, the Lions are betting on discipline, scheme, and tough personnel to neutralize the push.
Here’s where Detroit’s approach gets interesting: not only are they against the ban, they voted against it. And there’s a reason — according to Pride of Detroit, the Lions believe their own power football identity is strengthened by keeping this kind of play in their playbook.
On the flip side, Baltimore and other teams might be thinking differently. With the play staying legal, some might double down on it, tweaking their formations or hardening their short-yardage packages to make the push even more effective (or dangerous) in future matchups.
In short: Detroit isn’t running from the tush push—they’re embracing the fight side of it. It’s not just about banning a rule; it’s about building a defense that answers it. And if that bet pays off, the Lions could set a new bar for how to defend one of the NFL’s most polarizing plays.
Detroit Finds a Way to Slow Down the ‘Tush Push’ — While Baltimore’s Makes It Even Riskier
