Sparks (and spit) fly, the Tush Push is still a hot topic, and more from the Eagles-Cowboys broadcast
Analyst Tony Dungy called the incident “unspeakable,” and we didn’t have to wait long for season-opening fireworks.
Welcome back, Birds. Hopefully you took advantage of the extra SEPTA service and made your way down to the Linc in the rain to celebrate the Super Bowl LIX win.
This one started off with a bang. But if you got caught in the storm or the delay was past your weeknight bedtime, here’s everything you missed from back home on the broadcast of the Eagles’ season-opening 24-20 win over the Cowboys …
Jalen Carter spits
Jalen Carter was disqualified from the game for spitting on Dak Prescott before even playing a snap. This also happened to me in the fourth grade at my school field day after a boy I didn’t like beat me in a race.
When you’re an 8-year-old girl, it’s an in-school suspension but still somewhat silly. When you’re a grown man and professional athlete, you get tossed from the game and cooked on social media. Tough.
The Birds proceeded to give up a six-play touchdown drive. Something having one of your best defensive players on the field may have helped with.
The commentary team did not mince words on Carter’s foul.
“If you do that, you’re spitting in the face of your entire football team, your coach, and everyone in the organization,” analyst Cris Collinsworth said. “If the Eagles lose this game, it’s because Jalen Carter did that.”
» READ MORE: The Eagles should suspend Jalen Carter | Marcus Hayes
Said fellow analyst Tony Dungy: “I don’t know how you can do that as a man, first of all, but to let your teammates down, it’s unspeakable.”
Later, after the long rain delay, it was revealed that Prescott spit on the ground in the direction of the Eagles before Carter spit on him. According to the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram, Prescott was attempting to explain that he was not spitting at Carter directly before Carter spat on him.
Saquon Barkley museum
Before kickoff, the Eagles running back joined Football Night in America host Maria Taylor for a walk through a “Saquon Barkley museum,” honoring his biggest moments from his incredible 2024 campaign. Of the six moments, Barkley’s favorite was his pregame handshake with his daughter, which he’s been doing since she was 3 years old, he estimates. “It’s our pregame ritual,” he said.
His second favorite? Celebrating 2,000 yards with his offensive line.
“All those guys right there paved the way and [made] me look a lot better,” Barkley said. “For me to achieve that and have that moment with them, it took it full-circle.”
The Inquirer got a shoutout in the museum! Barkley holding the on-field cover of The Inquirer post-Super Bowl made the cut as one of the six featured images. Can’t believe it wasn’t his favorite …
The rivalry’s still spicy
If anyone thought that the heat in the Eagles-Cowboys rivalry had died down because of Dallas’ general ineptitude, fear not. The spice did not end with Carter’s ejection. During a special-teams play, Cowboys linebacker Marist Liufau started dragging Cooper DeJean around by his facemask after DeJean knocked his helmet off, starting a brawl between the teams.
The Tush Push
The Tush Push is not just for the offense anymore. After Miles Sanders fumbled in the third quarter for the game’s first turnover (and the first drive of the game without a score), the Eagles’ defense lined up to celebrate in the end zone with a Tush Push of its own.
The defense got to try the Tush Push before the offense this year. Is it still sponsored when they do it?
The celebration was so electric that it caused lightning in the area, which suspended the game for nearly an hour.
Tush Push Part 2
The offense finally got its shot at the Tush Push after the rain delay and converted it on its second try. Left tackle Jordan Mailata shared his “mixed feelings” on the Tush Push’s brush with being banned with NBC.
“I want to run it, but at the same time, I don’t because it’s really hard,” sideline reporter Melissa Stark recounted Mailata saying. “Running it two, three, four times a game is taxing. Have the cameras zoom in on my face after the fifth time.”
He might want to rethink telling that to the national broadcasters, because when Jason Kelce said something similar on his New Heights podcast, NFL owners used it against him at spring meetings. Kelce had to go in person to share his real take on the play and help save it from being banned.