is philadelphia eagles“Can't stop 'push-pushing'?
Statistically, that's not the case. Even at its peak in 2022, the play earned a first down on 93 percent of its attempts, 25 of 27, including 6-for-6 in Super Bowl LII. Last season, it dropped to 83%. However, taken literally, it means that it has a 7 to 17 percent chance of being “stopped.”
But how does that feel for the team being used as an opponent? Does a train of pain rolling behind just over 1,600 pounds of blunt force actually feel “stoppable” for the team tasked with stopping it? Ask 2022 backup quarterback Will Grier Let's see dallas cowboysmany tash pushes directly to the face.
“It can't be stopped.” Greer told ESPN. earlier this season. Well then.
There's something about Tush Push. feel I can't stop it. Watching the Eagles every week, every yard feels like zero, especially with the backfield of Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts, the two pioneers of offseason Instagram videos of 600-pound squats. It will be done. It must feel pretty hopeless to have that many muscles slamming into one spot in the middle of a soccer field.
The dominance of Tash Push made me wonder if this might be the most unstoppable play in the history of the sport. My gut reaction was “no.” Because I'm instinctively hard-wired to reject first takes and recency-biased takes that might appear on local talk radio. But when I started thinking about what makes a more unstoppable play, I hit a conceptual wall that even Tush Push couldn't break through.
What on earth is it? play? and what to do I can't stop it Even in a sense?
If you want to crown the most unstoppable play in sports history, you'll have to answer both questions. So let's crack a joint and create a complex theoretical framework to answer questions that no one has actually asked. who's with me?
(knuckles crack)
In my opinion, play It's about achieving goals and advancing the state of the game. Obviously, passes and runs in soccer are plays, as are shots and saves in most sports that have a “shoot” element. Furthermore, anything that is “designed” is a play, such as a set piece in soccer or a pick-and-roll action in basketball.
But there has to be an order of magnitude here. Small movements that cannot be realized without the sport itself, such as passing the ball in basketball or hockey, are not games. Additionally, the defense must be given an opportunity to prevent a successful play, and things like kneeling the QB are disqualified. Additionally, kicks and punts will be completely removed from soccer. This is because in such a case the defense will be at a huge disadvantage.
For example, in baseball or softball, a turn at bat is a play, but a pitch is not. Just as Tom Cruise blocked a sniper's bullet at the end of “Mission: Impossible 8,'' he is not allowed to designate a player to stand at bat and jump in front of the pitch before he even steps up to bat.
By this definition, there has never been a play in the history of sports that is statistically completely unstoppable. No play has a 100 percent success rate, as long as you use a sufficiently strict definition. There are also questions of difficulty and scale, so pick a few candidates with unusually high success rates for that context and see if the definition of “unstoppable” helps you choose the best one. There is a need.
Below are the four nominees for the Most Unstoppable Play Ever Award (MUPE). The award will be named after the first recipient.
Contestants:
- Jacques Plante faced shots in the NHL in 1970-1971 — Save percentage: 94.4 percent
- Shaquille O'Neal attempted shots within 5 feet of the basket in the 2000-2001 NBA — Shooting percentage: 75.1 percent
- 2022 Philadelphia Eagles “Push Push” — First Down Rate: 92.5 percent
- Barry Bonds in the batter's box in 2004 — On-base percentage: 60.9 percent
First and foremost, congratulations to all the candidates. All of these statistics are completely ridiculous and come from the incredible skill and effort of the players involved. But to narrow down the list, you need to understand what “unstoppable” actually means. literally It can be stopped. We apologize if your favorites were deleted.
First cut: Jacques Plante in the shot, 1970-1971
Our first loser will be Mr. Plante, and in fact the entire sport of hockey. I don't mean to disrespect the Montreal Canadiens, a Montreal Canadiens icon and one of the most important players in hockey history. Hockey is far too fluid to call a save “the most unstoppable play of all time,” for example, this guy basically invented the modern goalie position. Plante's record is not all that unusual either at the time or since. The gap between him and second place is only 4,000ths of a second, and recent goaltenders, such as Linus Ullmark two years ago, are also within striking distance.
While fluidity is certainly an issue here, Plante's removal also highlights the question of whether you set your own goals for play or have them set for you. His job was literally all about making saves, and opposing teams had no choice but to try and score against him. There was no other option and Plante had not actually decided to make the save. He had to do it, and he was very good at it.
Second Cut: 2000-2001 Shaquille O'Neal (within 5 feet)
Then we do away with Big Diesel and learn that if you're not cheating, you're not trying. Yes, Shaquille O'Neal made 75 percent of his shots within five feet. This is clearly an insane number considering how many shots he attempted from that distance. the probably Considering how many great centers there were in the early days of the game, even adjusting for his huge shot total it's still not the best of all time, but since the NBA has only tracked distance data since 1997. , use what's available.
The problem was, there was literally a blueprint for stopping Shaq: a foul. Sure, it's not technically legal, but Shaq could never figure out how to hit free throws and make his team pay for hacking and slapping him every time he caught the ball in the paint. he is still I felt it He was unstoppable if he made a deep seal, and even with a blueprint that exploited his weaknesses, he showed enough destructive power, but he won't win the MUPE Award unless he makes free throws. Perhaps in another timeline, Shaq might have been the most unstoppable player in the terrifying world of the Giants, who shoot 85 percent from free throws. But unfortunately this is not the case.
Runner-up: 2022 Philadelphia Eagles “Push Push”
Winner: Barry Bonds bat in 2004
Again, congratulations to the Eagles for making the list, but they won't come close to Barry Bonds and his medicinal enhanced on-base percentage. As I said earlier, when it comes to the MUPE award, if you're not cheating, you're not trying.
Statistically, the 2022 Tash push is far more unstoppable than Bonds getting on base (92.5 percent vs. 60.9 percent), but the money is in the details. The Eagles' tush-push success rate was (and still is) a very effective way to gain 1 yards, but they're the only team in history that's good at gaining 1 yards. Not.
Eagles' 2022 jersey numbers look pretty unrealistic until you see them Tom Brady's career QB sneak rate:90.5%. That's only 2 percent worse, which will matter over time, but not as much as how crazy Bonds was compared to his peers. 60.9% Apparently It was pretty unstoppable — opposing teams ejected Bonds 39.1 percent of the time — until you realize how completely unsustainable that number is in modern baseball.
Here are some statistics to support this argument. In 2004, 60.9% of Bonds 14 percent of the whole That's higher than second-place Todd Helton, and his 46.9 percent would still be better than his best season. All players currently in MLB Juan Soto, who had an on-base percentage of 49 percent in 2020, was not named.
But Soto is the exception that proves the rule: Bonds is the only player since 1960 He gets on base over 49% of the time. Even his other peers from the steroid era couldn't compete. And even if you include numbers from before 1960, when pitchers weren't as skilled and velocity wasn't dominating the game, he still beats Ted Williams in 1941 by 5 percentage points.
Tush Push's unstoppable nature may be more a function of its goals than its actual abilities. Its purpose is just to get 1 yard, That's something NFL teams are generally pretty good at. However, Bonds placed statistical constraints on opposing pitchers. No team can plan that much for someone to be on base, and they generally assume the best players they will face are about 42 percent.
Modern pitchers literally had no answers as to what else they were dealing with. All things considered, Bonds stepping into the batter's box in 2004 was the most unstoppable play in the history of the sport, making Barry Bonds the winner of the inaugural Most Unstoppable Play of All Time award. He may never be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, but I hope he is proud of this accomplishment. He certainly sacrificed a lot of faith to get there.
