 EverBank Stadium (then Alltel Stadium), site of the game | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 21, 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Alltel Stadium Jacksonville, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Gerald Austin[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | Fox | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Curt Menefee andTim Green | ||||||||||||||||||
TheRiver City Relay was a play in aNational Football League (NFL) game involving theNew Orleans Saints andJacksonville Jaguars that took place on December 21, 2003, at Alltel Stadium, now known asEverBank Stadium, inJacksonville, Florida. With the Jaguars leading 20–13, the Saints used threelaterals to score a touchdown as time expired in regulation. However, Saints kickerJohn Carney missed the ensuing extra point that would have sent the game into overtime, and instead gave the Jaguars the 20–19 victory.
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The Saints, at 7–7 entering the game, were attempting to reach the playoffs for the first time since2000. However, they needed to win both of their final two games to have a chance at qualifying for the postseason. The Jaguars had already been eliminated from postseason contention. While the Saints led early on in the game 3–0 after aJohn Carney field goal, the scoring had been mostly dominated by the Jaguars. With just seven seconds left at the end of regulation, the Jaguars had built a 20–13 lead on the Saints.
The Saints were on their own 25-yard line looking at second down and 10. QuarterbackAaron Brooks passed the ball to the right side of the field to receiverDonté Stallworth, who caught the pass at midfield. Stallworth then bounced off a tackle attempt by Jaguars cornerbackFernando Bryant and turned inside and broke two more tackles. The clock had already reached zero, and Stallworth pitched the ball to the 34-yard line toMichael Lewis, who ran the ball to the 25-yard line of Jacksonville. He then turned and pitched the ball toDeuce McAllister, who ran to the Jaguars' 20-yard line. McAllister then pitched the ball to the right side of the field toJerome Pathon, who caught the ball at the 24-yard line of Jacksonville. Brooks, who had hustled all the way downfield, then laid a block on the last Jaguars defender and Pathon dove into the end zone.
There was a lengthy delay while the officials determined that all of the ball transfers (after the pass to Stallworth) were indeed legal laterals. All the Saints needed was aJohn Carney extra point to send the game intoovertime. Saints head coachJim Haslett decided not to attempt atwo-point conversion to win the game immediately.
Carney lined up to kick the extra point, hit a dead push, and the kick sailed wide right. The famous reaction of Saints play-by-play radio announcerJim Henderson was a horrified, anguished scream:"NOOOO!!! He missed the extra point wide right! Oh my God, how could he do that?"[2] With no time remaining on the clock, the game was over, giving the Jaguars an improbable 20–19 victory.Sports writerJon Bois calculated the chances of a successful lateral play followed by a missed extra point, based on statistics from the year 2000 onward, to be 1.2% for the lateral play, and the missed extra point from the two-yard line to be 1%. When combined it comes to a statistical probability of 0.012% with the next season to include such an event to be in the year 3500.[3]
Earlier in the season, Coach Haslett had stated to the media that he trusted Carney so much, that he'd even stake his life on him. When reminded later that day of those same comments, Haslett stated, "Then I'd probably be dead right now. He's one of the great all-time kickers. I never would have guessed this would happen."[4]
With the loss, the Saints fell to 7–8 on the season and were eliminated from contention for the2003 NFL playoffs. However, even if the Saints had won in overtime, they still would have been eliminated from the playoffs, as theDallas Cowboys won their tenth game of the season that day (9 was the highest possible number of wins the Saints could have had if they won) and the Seahawks eventually won their tenth game to gain a wild card. The Saints, however, finished their season on a high note the next week with a 13–7 home victory over the very same playoff-bound Cowboys. For the Jaguars, the victory lifted them to a 5–10 record. They went on to lose the next week, 21–14, to theAtlanta Falcons.
The River City Relay later went on to win the 2004Best Play ESPY Award. It was the last multi-lateral touchdown in an NFL game until theMiracle in Miami in 2018, which saw Miami win the game 34-33, with no extra point attempt required.
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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| Saints | 3 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 19 |
| Jaguars | 0 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 20 |
atAlltel Stadium,Jacksonville, Florida
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