Jim Schwartz brought his Buffalo Bills defense to Detroit and obliterated Matthew Stafford and the Lions' offense on Sunday.
After shutting down the Lions for three quarters, the former Detroit head coach was carried off the field by his Bills players following the 17-14 win.
Apparently, Schwartz -- who downplayed the matchup last week -- told players during offseason workouts he was eager to beat his former team.
"He said that once he plays his former team that he wanted to be carried off and chant and have fun, and we just tried to make a dream come true," Randell Johnson said, per the Detroit Free Press.
While Schwartz might have circled this revenge date and mentioned to his players about carrying him out, as Johnson puts it, the coordinator was still slightly surprised by the initial move.
"He just ran on the field and we just picked him up. He was just like, 'What the ...' " Johnson said. "We were just happy. All the Detroit players came up to him thanking him and being like, 'Good job,' and stuff like that."
The only thing better would have been if Schwartz had a pocket full of red flags and was mockingly tossing them in the stands.
The over-display of celebration for a regular season win was brought up on Sunday night's Around The NFL Podcast. During the discussion, it was suggested to me that a fire-and-brimstone reaction was a necessary response to such a move.
As I said then, this move doesn't bother me in the slightest. There was a simple way for the Lions to keep that from happening: win the game. To point to the coordinator getting carried off as a lowbrow move is the definition of worrying about the speck in another's eye without noticing the log in your own.
Was it self-indulgent and a little overboard for Week 5? Sure. It was also done after a football game, not in the Supreme Court. Those finger-wagging ninnies bandying about a personal definition of "class" as if their worldview is pervasive need to calm down.
Let's put it this way, if you were fired and somehow returned to said place of employment and came away with a win, you wouldn't want your buddies carrying you out? Of course you would -- or should because that would be awesome.
(Sidebar: We should make this a thing. I'd love to watch YouTube clips of lawyers, accountants and car wash attendees being carried around offices after a triumph over their former employer. We can call it Schwartzing.)
At the end of the day, Schwartz's defense beat the pulp out the Lions and deserved the win. If those defensive players decided they wanted to carry their coach off, so be it. Losers and standers-by can complain about Schwartz's personality if they want. In the end, his players won and winners get to do what they want.
The latest Around The NFL Podcast recaps every Week 5 game and unveils our long-awaited choice for Team of Around The NFL. Find more Around The NFL content on NFL Now.
