Jordan Mailata: “It’s disrespectful”
Philadelphia Eagles’ left tackle, Jordan Mailata, has expressed his discontent with the media narrative that attributes his team’s victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl rematch solely to the “tush push”. In an interview on Tuesday with 94 WIP in Philadelphia, Mailata called the approach that minimizes the impact of the Eagles’ defense and special teams in the 20-17 victory in Kansas City “incredibly disrespectful.”Mailata added, with his voice rising: “That pisses me off because we give a lot to this game and, somehow, to base it on a short-yardage play, which is an American football play… To say we won the game because of that, but not because of how our defense played and not because of how our special teams played, putting us in those positions. I think it’s bullshit.” “I just think it’s garbage. Absolute garbage, man. It makes my blood boil just thinking about it.” The turning point in Sunday’s game came through the defense. Early in the final quarter, with the Chiefs trailing 13-10, tight end Travis Kelce failed to catch Patrick Mahomes’ pass near the goal line, the ball bounced off his hands and fell into the possession of rookie safety Andrew Mukuba, who returned it 41 yards. Jalen Hurts scored thanks to the tush push on the next possession, giving the Eagles a 10-point lead. The Eagles ran the tush push six times on Sunday, gaining four first downs and scoring the touchdown. Fox analyst Tom Brady and Chiefs coach Andy Reid suggested on Sunday that the Eagles’ offensive linemen were getting up from the line of scrimmage before the snap, but were not penalized. The play faced the possibility of being banned this offseason, but the proposal failed by two votes. The final vote was 22-10 on the proposal, which was presented by the Green Bay Packers, at the NFL’s annual meeting in Eagan, Minnesota, in May. The proposal needed 24 votes to pass. The Eagles have converted the play 96.6% of the time in fourth-and-1 scenarios since 2022.I understand the outrage [over the tush push]. What I don’t understand is them using it as an excuse for why we won the game. I think it’s incredibly disrespectful to our defense and our special teams, who played very well. And my brothers on defense and special teams who played very well that game, who had our backs when we weren’t moving the ball or doing anything,” Mailata said.
Jordan Mailata
