Detroit Lions: Remember the time Jim Schwartz threw that challenge flag?

This week’s bizarre moment in Detroit Lions history looks back to Thanksgiving 2012, when Jim Schwartz learned a tough lesson about challenge flag protocol.

The NFL rulebook has a sneaky way of biting the Detroit Lions at the worst possible times.

• Sometimes a catch isn’t a catch (Calvin Johnson 2010).
• If you’re Ndamukong Suh, sometimes a push to the shoulder becomes a forearm to the head.
• Sometimes pass interference isn’t even pass interference.
• Eight seconds left sometimes means zero seconds left, at least if you’re the Lions and one inch away from an early-season upset win.

I’m sure fans from plenty of other teams can also point out infamous moments when they were screwed by the refs. However, I doubt there are many who had to watch their team lose a crucial Thanksgiving game in large part because the head coach somehow illegally used their challenge flag.

Who else but Jim Schwartz could be asked, “Hey, remember the time you threw that challenge flag?”, and immediately know exactly which challenge flag they’re being asked about?

What happened?

The Lions were a disappointing 4-6 heading into Thanksgiving 2012. A troubled but very talented young nucleus of players was fresh off the franchise’s first playoff appearance in over a decade. However, the team was slowly crumbling beneath the unfamiliar weight of high expectations.

The Houston Texans entered the game at the top of the AFC with a 9-1 record, but the volatile Lions team had clearly brought its A-game to the Thanksgiving feast. Detroit led 24-14 midway through the 3rd quarter and was looking to add another defensive stop.

Texans running back Justin Forsett took a carry up the middle on 2nd and 10, and was tackled for a seven yard gain. Elbow down, knee down, plain as day. 21 of the 22 players on the field stopped.

Forsett got up and kept running.  Somehow or another, the whistle never blew. A single Lions defender half-heartedly chased with confusion as Forsett ran all the way to the end zone. A terrible gaffe on the part of the refs, but all in all, no harm done. The video review would obviously show what really happened, the touchdown would be called back, and Houston would be facing 3rd down.

Except…Jim Schwartz threw the challenge flag.

Triple Whammy

As soon as he saw what was happening, the always reactionary Jim Schwartz charged down the sideline and threw his flag to ensure that the ridiculous oversight would get reviewed and corrected. Only problem is, the letter of the NFL law prohibited him doing this.

Since Forsett’s run was (incorrectly) ruled as a scoring play on the field, it would have been automatically reviewed anyway. Since Schwartz threw the flag to review the call, and they were going to automatically review the call, this meant that they could no longer review the call.

Makes perfect sense, right?

To recap:

• Forsett gets 74 free yards and a touchdown, even though he was clearly down
• The play needed to be reviewed. Jim Schwartz wanted it to be reviewed. It wasn’t reviewed. Forsett’s unearned touchdown was allowed to stand.
• AND…Schwartz was tagged with a 15 yard penalty on the following kickoff for illegally using his challenge flag.

Aftermath

Of course, the Lions ended up losing the game, their 9th straight Thanksgiving loss. I know you need to be resilient and play through adversity, but that call is a pretty tough one to overcome, no*? In fact, the Lions didn’t win another game for the rest of the 2012 season.

Yes, the challenge flag debacle was technically Jim Schwartz’s fault. He made an emotion-fueled decision in the moment. He immediately even acknowledged that it was against the rule book (see him pointing to himself and saying “that’s on me” in the video clip).

However, I can’t think of any other play from a football game where there is a wider gap between the letter of the law, the spirit of the rule, and a punishment far outweighing its crime. And the rule was ridiculous to begin with. It’s like the “exact words” episode of the Brady Bunch. Just because that was the rule book’s “exact words”, that still doesn’t make it right.

And of course, the NFL removed this loophole within a loophole from the rule book in time for the 2013 season.

*although the Lions still had their chances, and Jason Hanson put a very make-able field goal off the uprights in overtime. 

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What about Justin Forsett?

First off, he knew he was down. So did everyone else.

Forsett’s 81 yard “touchdown” ended up easily being the longest run of his career. Forsett had a brief stint with Detroit in the 2016 season. His 74 undeserved yards on that one Thanksgiving play nearly doubled his total yardage as a Lion.

And six years later, this is still pound-for-pound the worst call I’ve ever seen in a football game.