In early spring, when the NFL's movement to ban the tush push was in full attack mode at the owners meetings in West Palm Beach, Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen was asked if he could remember when the play was born.

"I remember when we were there the first year (2021), we put it in and then obviously we started going, 'Hey, let's do this and let's do that,'" said Steichen, who was the Eagles offensive coordinator at the time. "And then the next thing you know it was, 'Hey, let's put two pushers back there,' and that became the play. And then it was like, 'Let's do stuff off it.' But then it was like, 'Well, we don't need to get too creative with it. We need one yard and we're really good at this so let's keep doing it until they stop it.'"

First-year head coach Nick Sirianni fell in love.

"We'd get down to the two and Nick would be like, 'Four quarterback sneaks in a row, let's call it,'" Steichen said. "I was like, 'Yeah, that's fair. We're going to get one yard, then we'll get another yard and then we'll score and that's how it works. You're the boss.' "

Fast forward four seasons and that's still the way it's working for the Eagles. The rest of the league is boiling with frustration because the play cannot be stopped.

It could be argued that the Eagles would not have pulled off their 20-17 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium if they didn't have the most simplistic and forceful of options in their playbook.

They lined up to run the tush push seven times against the Chiefs. The first time, veteran defensive end Charles Omenihu was flagged for lining up offsides. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts would have had the first down anyway.

Two offensive series later, Omenihu clearly lined up offsides again, but this time it wasn't called. Hurts converted the third-and-one play at the KC 43-yard line anyway and it led to the Eagles' first touchdown of the day on a 13-yard run by Saquon Barkley.

The Eagles didn't go back to their most efficient play until the fourth quarter when Hurts was shoved forward on consecutive plays by his teammates and scored on a fourth-and-inches play to give the Eagles a 20-10 lead with 7:48 remaining. The Chiefs were convinced that guards Tyler Steen and Landon Dickerson moved before center Cam Jurgens snapped the football, but nothing was called.

"The one clip I saw of it was slowed down so much that I'm not sure you can see that to the naked (eye)," Sirianni said Monday. "So you can do that with a lot of plays ... slow it down (and) the referees have a hard job."

There's an overhead shot of the same play that makes Sirianni's point. In real time, the guards are moving maybe just a split second before the center's snap.

Dean Blandino, the FOX officiating analyst for Sunday's game, offered his own frustration about the difficulty the tush push causes officials.

"I am done with the tush push guys," Blandino said. "It's a hard play to officiate."

A few moments earlier Blandino acknowledged that Hurts had probably scored on the third-and-one play.

There was a more blatant false start by Steen on the Eagles' next possession that should have been called. Instead, the Eagles got a first down that forced the Chiefs to burn their final three timeouts.

Sirianni acknowledged that his linemen are going to have to be better at executing the play going forward because officiating crews are sure to be looking to flag them for false starts after the league sifts through its complaint box this week.

"We understand that we have to be perfect on that play, and we'll keep working on being perfect on that play," Sirianni said.

The Eagles were perfect on that play during their final possession. Up by just three points, they ran the tush push on second-and-one and third-and-one to get the first down that allowed them to run out the clock. The Chiefs made a bogus claim that linebacker Drue Tranquill wrestled the football away from Hurts on the third-down play, but the whistle had been blown long before that happened.

It is amazing that a play so simple has become such a huge deal in the NFL and the smart money should be bet on the likelihood that the tush push is one day going to die by ballot at the NFL owners meetings. The vote last year was 22-10 in favor of banning the play. Only two more votes were needed to outlaw pushing the quarterback from behind.

For now, Sirianni remains in love.

"I think it's an exciting play," Sirianni said. "I mean, obviously there's been a lot of discussion about it. And I think ... it brings more attention to football ... so it's kind of a cool thing."

Sirianni said the Eagles have other plays they could use on third-and-one and fourth-and-one that he believes would also be successful.

"But you know, this play has been working well for us, so you keep going back to it," the coach said. "I think there's a beauty to it. Like everyone knows what you're going to run, and you can still get the (first down). Isn't that football? It's about the guys out there, like the physicality of the play and the toughness of the play."