The highs and lows of Vederian Lowe's unique day in Patriots' loss to Rams
FOXBORO -- New England Patriots left tackle Vederian Lowe had himself an up-and-down afternoon in the team's 28-22 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. He felt the extreme high of catching his first career touchdown, but also felt the extreme low of getting hit with a costly penalty earlier in the loss.
We'll start with the touchdown because it was pretty special, both for Lowe and the Patriots. It's not very often you see a 315-pound left tackle break into the end zone for an easy score, but that's exactly how it played out for Lowe on Sunday.
Vederian Lowe catches "Big Man" Touchdown
The Patriots were in a 28-13 hole early in the fourth quarter but were lined up at the Los Angeles 4-yard line after a nice drive downfield. Given the team's struggles in the red zone, the Patriots dialed up some trickeration to find paydirt.
Guard Sidy Sow had reported eligible for New England on a handful of plays, but this time it was Lowe's turn. That caused confusion on the Los Angeles defense, and Lowe was able to break free from the line as Drake Maye faked a handoff.
The quarterback saw his left tackle all alone in the end zone and hit him with an easy four-yard pass for six points.
Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo said the team had run the play several times during the week, and Lowe convinced them it would work with three catches in practice. It was a special moment for Lowe, who had never scored a touchdown at any level before Sunday.
"I've never caught a touchdown ever, at any level of football that I've ever played," Lowe said after the loss. "But it's always been a dream of mine since I was a little kid. I always thought I could play tight end growing up, and I always thought I had fairly great hands. I always talk stuff with the O-line saying, 'I've got the best hands on the O-line.'"
Maye said that was his first touchdown pass to a lineman, which are commonly referred to as "Big Man" -- or even "Fat Guy" -- touchdowns.
"I think that kind of gets lost in the NFL, some trickery, misdirection, things like that. I think it fooled these guys in the end zone," said Maye. "He caught them all week. Tried to give him a good pass; I think my mom probably could have caught it."
Lowe was happy that when it came time for him to shine, his hands didn't let him down.
"When it comes to special plays, you never know when the OC is going to call them. Or if he is going to call them," said Lowe. "Whenever our big guys came in, I was like, 'Oh shoot, I think this is the time.' Been waiting my whole life to catch a touchdown so I was ready. I had to shed my guy, and we were so close to the end zone it was a lot easier. I just had to catch it, and I knew I was going to do that.
"I was really glad I could execute in the moment and have a lifelong dream come true," he added.
The touchdown cut the Rams' lead to 28-19, but Joey Slye's extra point was blocked. The Patriots would only add a field goal the rest of the way and lost, 28-22, to fall to 3-8 on the season.
Patriots offensive linemen to catch a touchdown
Lowe became just the fourth Patriots offensive lineman to catch a touchdown pass on Sunday. Two of the others caught their TDs from Tom Brady, while another caught his from Steve Grogan:
- Nate Solder caught a 16 yard TD pass from Tom Brady in a 45-7 AFC Championship game win over the Colts in 2015.
- Tom Ashworth caught a 1-yard TD pass Brady in a 28-0 win over the Buccaneers on Dec. 17, 2005.
- Pete Brock caught a 6-yard TD pass from Steve Grogan in a 38-24 win over the New York Jets on Nov. 21, 1976.
The Patriots have had issues in the red zone this season, and were just 2-for-5 in their trips inside the red area on Sunday. We'll see if the lineman touchdown becomes a fixture in Alex Van Pelt's play-calling going forward.
Lowe flagged for costly illegal formation penalty
Lowe was also responsible for one of New England's lowlights on Sunday, as he was flagged for a backbreaking illegal formation penalty in the second quarter.
With the Patriots facing a third-and-8 at the Los Angeles 32-yard line, it looked like Maye had hit tight end Hunter Henry for a 17-yard connection to move the chains and keep the drive going. At the very least, the Patriots were in a good spot to add a field goal.
But there was laundry on the field, because Lowe was lined up slightly off the line.
So no first down for the Patriots, and a third-and-8 turned into a third-and-13. The Patriots ended up punting away the possession, and the Rams answered with their first touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.
"I was warned previously, I believe twice, by the official. I thought I was lining up correctly," Lowe said of the penalty after the loss. "Looking at the guard's alignment and lining up on the guard's alignment. What really sucks about that call is it came on a conversion, and I feel like that really killed the drive after that. I feel like it really hits as hard as it does for me because that's such a simple fix, such an easy thing to fix. We always harp on pre-snap penalties in our procedure and being sound in that to just give ourselves a chance.
"That really sucked to get a call like that," added Lowe. "Going forward I made sure it didn't happen again, but it just really hurt getting that on a conversion."
Lowe's penalty was one of three pre-snap violations by the Patriots, which ultimately cost the team important points in a close loss.
"The message is we can't go backwards," Mayo said after the defeat. "I don't care how good the team is, you can't go backwards, and that definitely hurts us."
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