NFL rule changes: Packers’ proposal for tush push ban not only request

The Green Bay Packers want the tush push out of the NFL, but there are two other rule changes that will be voted on, the league’s football operations department announced Wednesday. 

It was reported the Packers were the team that sent in a formal proposal to ban the play the Philadelphia Eagles have made famous.

But it’s official now after football operations made it known the Packers wish to change Rule 12, Section 1. 

The Packers’ official rule change proposal would “prohibit an offensive player from pushing a teammate who was lined up directly behind the snapper and receives the snap, immediately at the snap.” 

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The Eagles run the tush push during a game against the Atlanta Falcons Sept. 16, 2024, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.  (Terence Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The proposal also says a penalty would be assessed on any offensive player who violates the rule. The tush push was popularized by the Eagles during the 2022 campaign. Green Bay saw it last season, and the Eagles used it multiple times in their playoff matchup on the way to winning the Super Bowl. 

But the Packers weren’t the only team looking for changes in 2025. 

The second of three proposed rule changes was from the Detroit Lions, who wish to see Rule 8, Section 4, changed “to eliminate an automatic first down as a penalty imposed for defensive holding and illegal contact.”

2025 NFL RULE CHANGES: TUSH PUSH BAN AMONG 8 PROPOSALS AHEAD OF LEAGUE MEETINGS

The current rule for illegal contact and defensive holding is a loss of five yards and an automatic first down, and the Lions say that is too steep a penalty. 

The Lombardi Trophy-winning Eagles are looking to “align the postseason and regular-season overtime rules by granting both teams an opportunity to possess the ball regardless of the outcome of the first possession, subject to a 15-minute overtime period in the regular season.”

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell watches against the Jacksonville Jaguars during the second half of a game Nov. 17, 2024, in Detroit.  (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

The overtime rule was long discussed before the NFL finally changed it to allow both teams a chance at having a possession only in the playoffs. The regular season has the old rules, which state a touchdown by the team first in possession of the football ends the game, giving the opponent no chance for rebuttal. 

The Lions are also looking for two bylaw proposals for the 2025 season at the annual league meeting. They want better seeding for wild-card teams. 

They propose that the structure of playoff seeding change to allow wild-card teams with better records than division champions to be seeded higher in the playoffs. No matter the record, the four division winners in each conference get a home game to begin the playoffs. 

Some wild-card teams finish with better records than their opponents in the wild-card round. 

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell talks to the media after a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Detroit Nov. 17, 2024.  (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

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In 2024, the Minnesota Vikings went 14-3 during the regular season and had to travel to face the Los Angeles Rams, winners of the NFC South at 10-7, on the road. The Vikings lost 27-9 in the wild-card round. The Packers also had a better record than the Rams at 11-6 but were the seventh seed. 

All of these changes will be voted on during the annual meeting, which begins March 30. 

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