There are currently 26 plays where scorekeepers for some reason used random "lateral pass" strings. If the word "pass" is not enclosed by blank space, the parser won't count it as pass. That's why some of those plays have pass == 0. The pays with a passer were actual pass plays. Probably not very easy to handle.
This is not an actual reprex but code for me to reproduce
pbp_db %>%
filter(str_detect(tolower(desc), "lateral pass")) %>%
select(game_id, play_id, pass, home_team, passer, desc) %>%
collect()
# A tibble: 26 × 6
game_id play_id pass home_team passer desc
<chr> <dbl> <dbl> <chr> <chr> <chr>
1 1999_01_NYG_TB 2044 1 TB NA (15:00) J.Green right end to TB 33 for 15 yards (S.Garnes). lateral pass from Dilfer
2 1999_07_CHI_TB 3740 0 TB NA (8:28) C.Enis left end to TB 15 for 11 yards (R.Barber). Lateral pass
3 2000_11_SEA_JAX 2163 1 JAX NA (11:34) R.Watters left end to SEA 40 for 13 yards (K.Hardy). Play was a lateral pass to SS 32.
4 2000_16_SD_CAR 1630 0 CAR NA (3:33) B.Hoover left end to CAR 30 for -2 yards (R.Harrison). Lateral pass
5 2001_14_TB_CHI 424 1 CHI NA (8:06) Lateral pass from J.Miller. 86-M.Booker right end pushed ob at TB 21 for 13 yards (34-D.Jackson).
6 2001_14_TB_CHI 672 1 CHI NA (4:17) Lateral pass from B.Johnson. 28-W.Dunn right end pushed ob at CHI 49 for 12 yards (53-W.Holdman).
7 2001_15_NYJ_IND 3088 1 IND K.Dilger (10:08) 85-K.Dilger pass to 88-M.Harrison for 39 yards, TOUCHDOWN. Manning lateral pass to Dilger who passes to Harrison.
8 2002_06_PIT_CIN 108 1 CIN NA (13:44) 80-P.Warrick pushed ob at PIT 47 for 7 yards (41-L.Flowers). Lateral pass to the left flat
9 2002_11_CLE_CIN 59 0 CIN NA (14:54) 80-P.Warrick right end ran ob at CIN 28 for 4 yards (24-R.Griffith). {NOTE: Backwards lateral pass, Kitna (CIN #3) to Warrick (CIN #80)}
10 2002_17_MIA_NE 4032 1 NE D.Patten (15:00) 86-D.Patten pass incomplete to 80-T.Brown. Brady lateral pass to Patten who then passed to Brown.
11 2003_01_DEN_CIN 1104 1 CIN NA (10:47) 80-P.Warrick to CIN 26 for -3 yards (35-L.Walls). {Lateral pass from Kitna to Warrick}
12 2003_03_JAX_IND 2943 0 IND NA (9:40) 8-M.Brunell FUMBLES (Aborted) at IND 22, ball out of bounds at IND 22. Lateral Pass.
13 2005_04_DET_TB 100 0 TB NA (13:31) 21-A.Pinner left end to DET 30 for 2 yards (95-C.Hovan). lateral pass
14 2006_02_CLE_CIN 1573 0 CIN NA (6:34) 34-R.Droughns left end to CLE 47 for -1 yards (58-C.Miller; 20-T.James). {Lateral pass}
15 2006_16_CIN_DEN 1015 1 DEN J.Cutler (15:00) Direct Snap to Smith. Smith lateral pass back to Cutler. (Shotgun) 6-J.Cutler pass deep left to 15-B.Marshall ran ob at CIN 1 for 36 yards…
16 2006_18_KC_IND 2523 1 IND NA (4:14) 82-D.Hall right end to KC 46 for 6 yards (41-A.Bethea). Lateral pass from Green to Hall.
17 2008_17_JAX_BAL 3054 1 BAL NA (12:20) 85-D.Mason right end to JAX 47 for 3 yards (25-R.Nelson). Derrick Mason receives lateral pass from Joe Flacco.
18 2013_15_CIN_PIT 3181 1 PIT NA (14:08) 84-A.Brown right end pushed ob at PIT 21 for 1 yard (43-G.Iloka). Backward lateral pass from #7 Roethlisberger.
19 2014_04_TB_PIT 50 1 PIT NA (15:00) 46-Wi.Johnson right end to PIT 20 for no gain (51-D.Lansanah; 50-D.Fletcher). Lateral pass from #7 Roethlisberger.
20 2015_17_STL_SF 1012 1 SF NA (14:08) 11-T.Austin left end pushed ob at STL 48 for 7 yards (36-D.Johnson). 11 T.Austin took lateral pass from 17 C.Keenum
21 2015_18_PIT_CIN 4386 0 CIN NA (Pass formation) TWO-POINT CONVERSION ATTEMPT. 32-J.Hill rushes left end. ATTEMPT FAILS. Lateral Pass from McCarron to Hill
22 2016_04_DAL_SF 3219 1 SF NA (10:38) 11-C.Beasley right end pushed ob at DAL 41 for 7 yards (41-A.Bethea). Lateral pass from Z.Prescott to C.Beasley
23 2016_12_NYG_CLE 3031 1 CLE NA (:48) (Shotgun) 23-R.Jennings right end to NYG 36 for 6 yards (96-X.Cooper). 10 E Manning lateral pass to 23 R Jennings to the right
24 2018_14_CAR_CLE 1696 1 CLE J.Landry (2:00) 80-J.Landry pass incomplete deep left to 24-N.Chubb (26-D.Jackson). Lateral Pass from 6 B.Mayfield to 80 J.Landry
25 2019_01_TEN_CLE 104 0 CLE NA (14:12) (Shotgun) 80-J.Landry left end pushed ob at CLE 48 for 10 yards (54-R.Evans). Lateral Pass to 80 J.Laundry
26 2019_05_CHI_OAK 343 1 LV NA (9:42) (Shotgun) 29-T.Cohen right end pushed ob at CHI 23 for 3 yards (59-T.Whitehead). Lateral pass from Daniels to Cohen.
There are currently 26 plays where scorekeepers for some reason used random "lateral pass" strings. If the word "pass" is not enclosed by blank space, the parser won't count it as pass. That's why some of those plays have pass == 0. The pays with a passer were actual pass plays. Probably not very easy to handle.
This is not an actual reprex but code for me to reproduce