River City Relay
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| Date | December 21, 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Alltel Stadium, Jacksonville, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Gerald Austin | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | Fox | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Curt Menefee and Tim Green | ||||||||||||||||||
The River City Relay is a play in a National Football League (NFL) game involving the New Orleans Saints and Jacksonville Jaguars that took place on December 21, 2003, at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. With the Jaguars leading 20–13, the Saints used three lateral passes to score a touchdown as time expired in regulation. However, New Orleans kicker John Carney missed the ensuing extra point that would have sent the game into overtime, and instead gave Jacksonville the 20–19 victory.
The Saints, at 7–7 entering the game, were attempting to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2000. However, they needed to win both of their final two games to have a chance at qualifying for the postseason. While the Saints led early on in the game 3–0 after a John 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. Quarterback Aaron Brooks passed the ball to the right side of the field to receiver Donté Stallworth, who caught the pass at midfield. Stallworth then bounced off a tackle attempt by Jaguars cornerback Fernando 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 to Michael Lewis, who ran the ball to the 25-yard line of Jacksonville. He then turned and pitched the ball to Deuce McAllister, who ran to the Jaguars' 20-yard line. McAllister then pitched the ball to the right side of the field to Jerome 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.
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