[C. Edmund Wright]

It’s still counted in the yards as a pass. A pass is not measured by how far the QB throws it, it’s measured by how far the receiver runs before being tackled or running out of bounds or fumbling

Wow, you don't even know the issue here. The pass v lateral debate has NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING to do with where the play ended up. Nothing. This is about one thing: WHERE the ball was thrown FROM and where it was CAUGHT. NOT where the ball carrier ended up….

The ball, and I did a stop start stop start look at the tape….was thrown from the 49….that's where Mannings HAND and the BALL were at release…it was caught at about the 48…maybe 47 and a half….that's where it entered the HANDS of the receiver. THUS, it was statistically a PITCH or LATERAL or BACKWARDS PASS….whatever…what it wasn't was a FORWARD PASS, period.

[b4its2late]

No, you don't get it. The article is meaningless. It doesn't matter if it was forward or backward.

There is no statistic for a backwards pass. The yardage is counted from the line of scrimmage whether the pass is thrown forward or backward. You don't get negative yards for throwing a pass backwards. If a backwards pass is not caught, it is a loose ball.