In the history of the NFL, only once in the 21st century has a team successfully converted a lateral pass for a touchdown at the end of a game.

It occurred in the River City Relay on December 21, 2003, where the New Orleans Saints successfully completed three lateral passes culminating in a 75-yard touchdown by Jerome Pathon against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Referees correctly ruled Antonio Brown, the last Steeler to touch the ball on that play, out of bounds at the 13-yard line to end that game in a Miami victory.

The Dolphins declined to kick the extra point, per the rule change for the 2018 season following the Minneapolis Miracle.

(sic) Or rather Parker, who flips it to Drake, he runs across the 40 of New England, angling inside to the 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, He's gonna win the footrace to the end zone!

And the Patriots stand stunned in disbelief!Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was criticized after the game for substituting out safety Devin McCourty for tight end Rob Gronkowski, who missed the final tackle leading to Drake's touchdown.

[13] Retired Patriots players Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi, as well as McCourty and Patriots safety Duron Harmon, argued that since the Dolphins were too far away from the end zone to try a conventional Hail Mary pass play, Gronkowski, who had historically been used to defend against long passes in late-game situations, should not have been substituted in for a defensive back on the play.

"[15] The Dolphins improved to 7–6 with the victory and remained in contention for a postseason berth and an AFC East title.

The play proved inconsequential to the season as the Dolphins lost all of their remaining games to finish 7–9 and miss the playoffs for a second consecutive year.

[16] The Patriots clinched the division for a 10th consecutive year and a first-round bye with a 11–5 record[17][18] and although the defeat cost them the home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs as the No.

1 seed,[19][20][21][22] their season ultimately concluded with a 13–3 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII.

[23] The game was also the final victory with the Dolphins for head coach Adam Gase, who was fired after the season,[24] and quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who was traded to the Tennessee Titans.

[26] In their final game of following season, Flores led the Dolphins to an upset victory over New England, which dropped the Patriots to the conference's third seed and forced them to play the Titans in the wild card round.

[28] Four years later on December 18, 2022, the Patriots attempted a lateral pass play of their own against the Las Vegas Raiders with the game tied, but the attempt notably failed and resulted in the opposite intended effect: a walk-off game-winning touchdown for the Raiders, as Las Vegas defensive end (and former Patriot) Chandler Jones picked off New England's second lateral pass attempt and ran it in for the score.