As the tush push debate continues to toggle from simmer to boil, there’s an important point to remember regarding the expected 2026 attack on the play.
Last night’s first touchdown from Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson was fueled by a multi-teammate shove into the end zone. If the rule change that came within two votes of passing had cleared the 75-percent minimum, that play would have violated the revised standard.
It didn’t start that way. The initial proposal from the Packers (as prompted by the league office) focuses solely on the tush push formation. When it failed to get sufficient traction during the March ownership meeting, the forces opposed to the tush push regrouped, reevaluated, and ultimately rewrote the proposed rule.
By May, the focus was far more general. The anti-tush push crowd wanted to rewind the rulebook to 2005. No pushing of the ball carrier, anywhere on the field.
If adopted, that would make the shoving of a player into the end zone a violation.
Of course, it’s not enough for a play to violate the rules as written. The officials still have to call it. And the officials habitually don’t call a foul for the pulling of a runner, even though it remained a prohibited tactic even after pushing was permitted. Earlier this year, a blatant pull of 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey during a Sunday night game against the Falcons was not called.
The point for now is this. If the tush push goes, other things will go to, at least in theory. And those consequences will include the move that propelled Henderson to paydirt on Thursday night for the Patriots.
The Jets’ offense started Thursday night’s game with a brilliant 14-play, 72-yard drive that ended with a Justin Fields five-yard touchdown run. On that first drive, Fields ran the ball five times and threw the ball twice, and the Jets’ offense was humming.
So did the Jets keep having Fields run the rest of the game? No.
The Jets’ remaining three drives of the first half were all three-and-outs, and Fields didn’t have a single rushing attempt for the rest of the half. All three of those three-and-out drives ended with Fields throwing the ball on third down and failing to get the first down. But Jets head coach Aaron Glenn defended the play calling after the game, saying Fields is not a running back and can’t be treated like one.
“We don’t want to make a habit of our quarterbacks continuing to run because we can put them in harm’s way,” Glenn said. “I felt like if we get a fast start we’ll be in a good position, and Justin ran the ball quite a bit. The thing is, we can’t put Justin in a situation where he’s a running back, and I think we all know that, because we’re putting him in harm’s way.”
After that great opening drive on which Fields ran the ball five times and threw the ball twice, he ran the ball six times and threw the ball 24 times the rest of the game. Glenn said he would have liked to see his receivers do a better job catching Fields’ passes.
“We’ve got to have some guys make some plays for him too,” Glenn said.
But the reality is that whether you blame Fields or the receivers for the struggles of the passing game, the Jets’ offense was moving better when Fields was running: Fields ran 11 times for 67 yards, an average of 6.1 yards per run. Fields also passed the ball 26 times for 116 yards, and was sacked twice for 11 yards, a net of 105 yards on 28 dropbacks, or 3.8 yards per attempted pass.
The Jets were better with Fields running more than passing, but Glenn made clear that Fields running more than passing is not part of the Jets’ future plans.
The Patriots kicked off Week 11 by winning their eighth straight game.
Running back TreVeyon Henderson scored three touchdowns and the Patriots defensed forced a turnover on downs at the two-minute warning to put the finishing touches on a 27-14 home win. The eight-game winning streak leaves the Patriots at 9-2 and in control of the AFC East.
Henderson scored two touchdowns in Week 10 and the rookie has made the most of the expanded opportunities he’s received with Rhamondre Stevenson out of the lineup. The second-round pick finished with 19 carries for 62 yards and five catches for 31 yards on the evening.
One of Henderson’s scores came on a pass from Drake Maye and the current MVP favorite was 25-of-34 for 281 yards to continue his breakout second NFL season. Wide receiver Stefon Diggs had nine catches for 105 yards to lead the way for the receiving corps.
The Jets were able to hang around into the fourth quarter and trailed 24-14 when they forced a punt with 7:29 to play. Any hopes of pulling off the upset dimmed when Justin Fields couldn’t handle a low snap and Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings recovered on the Jets’ 11-yard line. The Jets forced a field goal and moved the ball on their next drive, but the urgency wasn’t where it needed to be and they would have been pressed for time to pull off a stunner even if a fourth-down pass to tight end Jeremy Ruckert wasn’t broken up by defensive back Dell Pettus.
Fields ran 11 times for 67 yards and a touchdown while going 15-of-26 for 116 yards and a touchdown through the air. The touchdown went to recent acquisition John Metchie, but Adonai Mitchell, who was also acquired in a trade, had a pair of drops in his first game for the team.
The Jets had won two straight coming into Thursday and they’ll use the mini-bye to prepare for a Week 12 trip to Baltimore. The Patriots will also hit the road and it will take them to Cincinnati as they look for their first nine-game winning streak in one season since 2017.
Jets quarterback Justin Fields ran for a touchdown in the first quarter and he’s now added a passing touchdown to the ledger.
Fields hit wide receiver John Metchie for a 22-yard score that cut New England’s lead to 21-14 with 3:10 left to play in the third quarter. It was Metchie’s first touchdown catch of the Jets and he was all by himself to catch the pass after safety Jaylinn Hawkins fell down.
The touchdown came on a third down that was set up by wide receiver Adonai Mitchell’s second dropped pass of the night.
Fields is 10-of-15 for 77 yards and the Jets defense will try to keep the lead from growing before the ball is back in his hands.
Drake Maye isn’t doing anything to hurt his MVP bid on Thursday night.
Maye extended the Patriots’ lead over the Jets to 21-7 by floating a six-yard pass to running back TreVeyon Henderson with 7:46 to play in the third quarter. It’s Henderson’s third touchdown of the night and the first one that’s come through the air.
Maye had three other completions on the drive, including a connection with Stefon Diggs that showed just how hard Maye is to stop right now. He was flushed out of the pocket and nearing both the sideline and line of scrimmage when he flicked a pass to a wide-open Diggs for a first down.
Maye is now 19-of-23 for 205 yards and the Jets need to find their way back to the end zone soon if they’re going to have any chance to get back into this one.
