Ed Reed was a last-minute scratch for Monday night’s game against the Packers, which meant Tom Zbikowski (insert media’s mandatory mention that he was an amateur boxer) got his first career start. The results: Not great.
SHOCKING: Tom Zbikowski Not As Good As Ed Reed
From the Baltimore Sun:
Zbikowski made four tackles and recorded his first career interception off budding superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers. But Zbikowski also was on the short end on both of tight end Jermichael Finley’s touchdown catches. […] “Ups and downs,” Zbikowski said of his performance. “Obviously, I had the pick, but I made a couple of dumb plays here and there. So I’ll get those corrected and come back and keep trying to get better.” […]
Zbikowski’s biggest hiccups occurred on Finley’s touchdowns. On the 2-yard alley-oop that Rodgers floated to the 6-foot-5 Finley in the second quarter, the 5-11 Zbikowski could not wrestle the ball away from the tight end.
And then on Rodgers’ 19-yard dart to Finley in the fourth quarter, the 210-pound Zbikowski could not bring down the 247-pound Finley before he crossed the goal line.
To be fair, it’s not as if Zbikowski was awful — he didn’t get burned deep for scores. And really, keeping Finley out of the endzone is a tall order for any safety, especially considering Finley was running downhill and he’s freaking enormous. Had Zbikowski made the stop, the Packers would’ve had the ball on the two anyway. You can see the play at the 3:40-mark:
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