FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- It was a play five years in the making between New England Patriots receivers Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola.

The lateral pass from the quarterback to Edelman. The bomb down the field from Edelman, a quarterback in his college days at Kent State, to Amendola. The easy entry into the end zone by Amendola. The Patriots have practiced it every once in a while, with hope that when the time would come to call it, they would be able to get it right.

That time came Saturday against the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC divisional playoffs. And it resulted in a touchdown that tied (at the time) what eventually was a 35-31 win for the Patriots.

"Coach dialed up a double pass," Edelman said. "We've had it for a little bit and got it called. We all saw that the coverage -- what we wanted -- was going to be there. We were able to execute the play."

In the third quarter, with the Patriots down 28-21, the call for the play came. Three plays into their drive, quarterback Tom Brady threw laterally to his left to Edelman, who looked as if he were going to scamper forward to gain a few yards. Instead, Edelman loaded up and unleashed a pass, which hit a wide-open Amendola down the sideline for a 51-yard touchdown.

"It's really the same play we ran against Indianapolis back in '01, with [David] Patten to Troy Brown, if I remember correctly," coach Bill Belichick said. "Same kind of play. We were lucky they were in a sub-blitz, so they blitzed off the slot. That certainly helped the play out [and] gave us a little more time. [Rashaan] Melvin came up, the corner came up, Rob [Gronkowski] was able to block it and give Julian a little bit more time to throw the ball. Danny made the catch and outran the safety. It was well-executed, and I think we caught the right defense."

Needless to say, the Ravens were caught off-guard. However, neither Edelman nor Amendola were surprised it was called.

"You've got to unload everything you've got to win against a team like that -- the Baltimore Ravens," Edelman said. "They played a tough game."

Said Amendola: "I wasn't surprised. It was a play we've had in the books for a little while now."

Although Amendola joined the Patriots two years ago, both he and Edelman alluded to how they designed the trick play prior to that. While Amendola didn't provide any detail, Edelman joked that when the two met during the 2011 NFL lockout, they would retreat to the beach to play catch and came up with the play then.

After all, Edelman has mentioned on numerous occasions during his time with the Patriots that he hasn't had a chance to show off his arm. After finally getting the chance Saturday, he admitted he was a little rusty.

"If they're going to put in a double throw, I would say, 'Let's be real, I've got to get that,'" Edelman said. "I don't throw it like I used to. ... It was all right. My shoulder is a little sore."

Both Amendola and Brady were impressed.

"He throws it better than I did," Brady said. "He spun it. It was a perfect spiral, right in stride. I've gotta make some rules that he can't throw it better than I can, but he did. It was pretty sweet."

Added Amendola: "It's a testament to Julian. He has a great arm and is a great athlete. So he put it on the money, that's for sure."

Asked how long he's been waiting to throw a touchdown in the NFL, Edelman said it had been a dream since he was about 8 years old. With one now under his belt, Edelman was just happy he was able to do it on his first shot.

As for the second shot? Who knows? It could come as soon as next week in the AFC Championship Game.

"It was a fun play," Edelman said. "I'm happy it got executed because that means I've got a life to maybe throw again."