Mavric
Yoda
The lines I mocked up only serve to support what you can clearly see with your eyes in motion that the ball did not travel backwards or even straight sideways. This view had virtually no camera movement at all, and while it's not fool proof on its own the body of evidence from all available sources is. I spliced the pitch man receiving into the corner, and unless the ball changed drastically in height off the ground, it clearly moved forward.
"Drastically" is open to interpretation but the QB pitching the ball from slightly below shoulder height and the RB catching it at roughly eye-level seems to be a noticeable change in height.