“Feels Like I’m Disciplining My Children”: Matthew Stafford’s Wife Kelly Annoyed by Refs’ Warning to Commanders About ‘Awarding the Score’ to Eagles

Sunday’s NFC Championship game between the Washington Commanders and the Philadelphia Eagles witnessed the much-debated ridiculous sequence of penalties. It then led to an even more intriguing warning from NFL officials. Upon receiving their third consecutive penalty while attempting to stop the infamous “tush push”, the Commanders were warned that the referees “could award a score if this type of behavior happens again”. The chiding was infantilizing at best, felt Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford’s wife, Kelly.

The “tush push” is hard to defend against, and the Commanders tried by sending a defender over the top of the line of scrimmage, attracting the ire of the refs. And the result — the TD — was written in the stars, or rather the rules, anyway.

Like many fans, Kelly “was baffled” by how the referees handled the situation. “It feels like I’m disciplining my children,” she jested on the latest episode of her podcast, Timeout. 

“If you don’t want guys jumping offsides… just go on one,” added Kelly. She then went on to admire the Eagles’ “annoying” yet foolproof strategy, one they have almost made their hallmark.

“It’s smart. Draw them offsides every time and then you just get awarded the points… but still, it was so annoying,” added Kelly, before clarifying the rule by reading out a statement from co-host Hank Winchester:

“A team can not commit multiple fouls in an effort to prevent the score… In the rulebook it states that the referee awards a touchdown to a team that has been denied one by a palpably unfair act.”

However, Kelly and Hank acknowledged that there’s nothing ‘objectively palpable’ about the situation. Football is, after all, subjective.

The issue many have with the officials’ ruling is that there are very few other ways through which the Commanders could have attempted to stop the Eagles from scoring. While, in theory, the “tush push” is not 100% unstoppable, it has an incredibly high success rate.

Teams have tried many ways to stop it, with the latest iteration being what the Commanders attempted. Unfortunately, for both defenders and spectators, the implementation of a hard count makes this newfound strategy even harder to implement, as it essentially reduces the issue down to timing.

If a team cannot nail the timing of the snap count, you get a situation like the one we saw on Sunday.

With a Conference Championship on the line, the added pressure increased the Commanders’ desperation, resulting in them committing similar fouls in succession. They were merely attempting to stop a play for which they appeared to have no other answer.

The full series of penalties that came a little before Jalen Hurts’ rushing touchdown was perhaps the least spectator-friendly sequence that fans had to endure in recent years. It is also ironic that the officials’ ruling is being discussed more than the outcome of the game.

So, in all likelihood, the NFL and its respective committees will be taking a closer look at both the rule and the “tush push”, later on this offseason.