Packers OL Zach Tom draws penalty with hilarious flop
Every week, the “Monday Night Football” crew hands out the “Himmy Awards.” Well, we now have a submission for the “Flop Award,” thanks to Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Zach Tom.
This flop ended up being a positive for the Packers in their Week 5 road tilt against the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday. After a basic run play during the first quarter, some extra-curricular occurred after the play. Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby was in the middle of it, giving Tom a two-hand shove to the back.
Tom sold it well, essentially doing a bellyflop as he fell to the ground. Tom’s sell job resulted in the referees calling a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Crosby to give Green Bay an automatic first down.
Peyton Manning wasn’t impressed.
“That’s a flop… The NBA, they’re outlawing flopping,” Manning said on ESPN2‘s ‘ManningCast’. “Do we have to get that in the NFL? Does Commissioner [Adam] Silver have to call Commissioner [Roger] Goodell?”
Joe Buck, however, was.
“What kind of a splash would that get in the pool? That was a bellyflop…Wow, that was well done. Seeing a live Vegas show,” Buck said on the ESPN broadcast.
Zach Tom taking strides in second season
Tom, Green Bay’s 2022 fourth-round pick out of Wake Forest, is clearly making an impact in his first season getting the start at right tackle. Tom entered Monday’s contest having allowed zero sacks and carrying a 75.2 overall grade, per Pro Football Focus.
He’s been a bright spot on the Packers’ banged-up offensive line, feeling the effects of not having two-time All-Pro David Bakhtiari at left tackle. He announced Friday he will miss the remainder of the 2023 season.
Bakhtiari, who has undergone multiple surgeries on his knee in the last three years, will undergo one more and hopes to be ready by training camp next season, according to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Bakhtiari, 32, has suited up in just 13 games since tearing his ACL in December 2020. After playing in 11 games last season, Bakhtiari was back at left tackle for the 38-20 Week 1 victory over the Chicago Bears. Bakhtiari looked like his All-Pro self in the win, but his knee began swelling in the days after. The Packers placed him on injured reserve on Sept. 28.