The records will always say that it worked, but if you had eyes during the AFC Championship on Sunday, you know the ‘tush push’ ran by the Patriots would certainly give the Eagles a laugh.

Drake Maye picked up a huge first down – luckily based on replay – with both Milton Williams and Khyiris Tonga in the backfield on 4th-&-1 during the 16-play, 64-yard drive that chewed up the first 9:31 of the first half, ending in a chip shot Andy Borregales field goal for the final points of the game.

It was ugly. No way around it.

The Patriots have gone heavy personnel a lot this season, but the ‘tush push’ has been a rarity, despite Maye’s size and willingness to do whatever it takes. This one got the job done after review showed inconclusive evidence that the initial first down call could be overturned.

For the next two weeks, Mike Vrabel, Josh McDaniels and the rest of the offensive staff will have to come up with anything and everything they can to win one last game in this stunning season. On Monday, I asked Vrabel if based on the execution, it’s something he’d be willing to call again with potentially everything on the line.

“Well, we’ll use anything that can help us. We gained just enough,” he said. “And again, we practice things throughout the year and try to have it ready to go. But yeah, anybody that can help us out there, [Khyiris] Tonga, Milt [Milton Williams], anybody that we could use. So, hopefully we can continue to pick up some short yardage situations with how critical that is, especially in the red zone.”

If we see it again out in San Francisco, a clean version, or the one everyone saw a few days ago could be the difference between a Super Bowl or a crushing loss.