However, the play failed as Raiders defender Chandler Jones intercepted the Patriots' second lateral pass and ran the ball in for a walk-off touchdown.

In addition, the blunder stood in stark contrast to the Patriots' success and disciplined play during the Brady–Belichick era, becoming emblematic of the team's decline since quarterback Tom Brady left New England after 2019.

The Raiders took a commanding 17–3 lead at halftime, but a pick-six thrown by Derek Carr to Patriots safety Kyle Dugger sparked 21 unanswered points by the Patriots, who capped off a 24–17 lead with a Rhamondre Stevenson touchdown run and a successful two-point conversion pass from Mac Jones to Jakobi Meyers.

With only 32 seconds remaining, the Raiders tied the game with a Carr touchdown pass to Keelan Cole, which was arguably caught out of bounds as Cole's foot stepped on the outer boundary of the end zone but was ruled a touchdown.

Stevenson eluded several Raiders defenders and ran the ball 23 yards towards the right sideline to the Las Vegas 32-yard line.

With Raiders safety Duron Harmon closing in, Stevenson pitched the ball a short distance over his shoulder to Meyers, who ran back to the 40-yard line before throwing the ball towards the middle of the field and roughly 12 yards backwards towards Mac Jones's vicinity, unaware that Raiders defensive end Chandler Jones, who had earlier missed a tackle on Stevenson during the play, was guarding him.

[4] Chandler Jones, who had played for the Patriots from 2012 to 2015, was credited with a fumble recovery due to the backwards motion of the ball.

He later described to Peter King of NBC Sports: Instead of pursuing the ball, I just started playing back into saying, alright who's the next passer?

Kenny Albert: Mack Hollins out on defense, he's all the way back... as Stevenson... Jonathan Vilma: Is anyone gonna tackle him?

He circles back and he throws it across the field towards Mac Jones... Scott Zolak: Oh my God.

Following the game, several Patriots players and head coach Bill Belichick took responsibility for the botched lateral play.

"[3] When asked why the Patriots did not attempt a Hail Mary pass, Belichick offered "Taking a shot at the end zone?

[13] Former Patriots Tom Brady and Julian Edelman offered their opinions on the lateral play, as both were on the team during the Miracle in Miami.

Brady specifically mentioned his experience of being at the losing end of the Miracle in Miami and relayed his reaction to watching the "Lunatic Lateral" on game highlight videos but also expressed faith in Belichick in rallying the Patriots after the botched play.

[15] During that week's Monday Night Football game between the Green Bay Packers and the Los Angeles Rams, Packers cornerback Rasul Douglas, who likewise lateralled the ball after making an interception in the game, stated his regret for doing so as the lateral pass was nearly recovered by Los Angeles but was picked up by his teammate Adrian Amos.

[7] Charles Curtis of USA Today Sports countered that the Butt Fumble was a "delightful accident" compared to Meyers' lateral, but went on to compare the latter to the Colts Catastrophe, Leon Lett's Thanksgiving blunder, Dan Orlovsky's self-inflicted safety, and other inept plays in NFL history, saying the lateral belonged on the "Mount Rushmore of boneheaded plays".

[18] Richie Whitt of Sports Illustrated, writing for the publication's Pats Country blog on Fan Nation and having coined the "Lunatic Lateral" moniker, mentioned that there were multiple culprits in the failed play and declined to pin it all on Meyers, but also blamed Belichick for needing to be better at "situational coaching", in reference to his earlier quote about "situational football" and not trusting Mac Jones to throw a potential Hail Mary pass.

"[22] With the game-winning touchdown, the Raiders defeated the Patriots for the first time since 2002, when they were still based in Oakland, California.

[24] During the final play of the 2023 ReliaQuest Bowl between Illinois and Mississippi State, Illinois attempted a last-ditch lateral pass play to try to win the game, but one of the laterals hit the ground and a Mississippi state player recovered the ball and ran it in for a game-sealing touchdown to win 19–10.

[25] On March 16, 2023, Jakobi Meyers signed a three-year contract with the Las Vegas Raiders.

[27] Chandler Jones, who had scored the touchdown on this play, was excused from the Raiders early in the 2023 season due to several mental health incidents and was later released by the team following a string of arrests.