Jason Kelce was not a fan of the New Orleans Saints' offensive strategy during the first NFL regular season game in France on Sunday, Oct. 25, leading to a funny moment on the NFL Network broadcast.
The former Super Bowl champion and Philadelphia Eagles star was in the booth as the Saints faced the Pittsburgh Steelers in an NFL Week 7 matchup. And he was critical of the Saints' goal line play-calling, which used a quarterback sneak just one time in four attempts to score from the 1-yard line shortly before halftime.
On first down, quarterback Tyler Shough ran a bootleg run toward the right sideline that was stopped short of the goal line. On second down, Shough attempted a QB sneak up the middle that was stopped, but Kelce wanted to see it again.
"I mean it's rare that it gets stopped twice in a row," said Kelce, who helped popularize the "tush push" sneak during his days with the Eagles. "This is a play that usually hits somewhere in the 80 to 90 percent success rate."
On third down, running back Kendre Miller was stopped short on a running play that nearly resulted in a fumble before replay confirmed him down by contact.
Kelce then questioned the decision not to go to the sneak play on third down and advocated that they go back to the proverbial well on fourth down.
"It's so low of a chance that you can stop it this many times in a row," Kelce said. "No team's ever stopped it three times in a row. I get it. You haven't had great success with it yet. You're on the inch line. Whether you jump over and reach it, whether you find a little soft spot."
"Or do you see a team get cute here?" broadcast partner Kurt Warner asked.
"I hope not, I hope not," Kelce said. "That's what they just tried."
On fourth down, the Saints instead called a passing play that was successful.
Shough found receiver Devaughn Vele for a 1-yard touchdown catch that tied the game, 10-10, before the break.
"That works too, Kurt," Kelce deadpanned, with laughter breaking out among the announcers.
Shough completed 15 of 19 passes for 152 yards and the touchdown in the first half to keep his team locked in a close one with Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers.
The Saints needed to points badly, as they were heavily outgained by Pittsburgh. The yardage margin at the half was 250-156 in favor of the Steelers.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jason Kelce's tush push obsession leads to funny moment in Steelers vs. Saints
