49ers LB Fred Warner makes incredible flying tackle to stop Kirk Cousins tush push

San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner may have just cracked the code on how to stop the “Tush Push.”

Apparently, the key all this time was to channel your inner Troy Polamalu, and go flying over the pile to prevent the quarterback from picking up the first down. That’s exactly what Warner did in the Week 7 “Monday Night Football” road tilt against the Minnesota Vikings. Warner’s leap across the line of scrimmage prevented quarterback Kirk Cousins and Minnesota’s offense from getting into the end zone during the third quarter.

Fred Warner channeled his inner Polamalu 😱 pic.twitter.com/IxOQgQdsmb

— PFF (@PFF) October 24, 2023

If we’re being honest, it would be Warner of all players to finally figure out how to stop the “Tush Push,” with perhaps a slight asterisk on it since this wasn’t a Philadelphia Eagles “Tush Push.” And yes, there’s a difference as the rest of the league has found out. But nonetheless, Warner is arguably the best linebacker in the NFL, and his leaping stop could serve as a blueprint for other teams hoping to stop the near unstoppable play.

Eagles defend use of tush push

Unstoppable, that is, when the Eagles do it, as Philadelphia continues to be successful more than 90% of the time they call the play. After another game in which they used it to perfection, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni defended the use of the play amid calls for the league to ban it.

“People can’t do it like we do it. Don’t ban this play,” Sirianni said after the 31-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 7 Sunday. “If everybody could do it, everybody would do it.”

Sirianni echoed much of what Eagles center Jason Kelce said last month concerning those calling for the play to be banned.

“So what do [they] want to outlaw it for, just cause it’s a really, really highly successful play?” Kelce said, via Bleacher Report. “If it’s because we’re really good at it, what else are you going to outlaw that other people are really good at? Are we going to outlaw Patrick Mahomes operating a two-minute drill because he’s the best player in the world at it?… Justin Tucker can’t kick a ball over 50 yards, get him out of there, it’s too automatic, it’s not fair?

“If it’s an unfair advantage, I think you would see the rest of the league doing it at 92% [success rate]. But as we saw in Week 1, four other teams missed quarterback sneaks.”