The Detroit Lions were eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday after losing at home to the lowly New York Giants. Head coach Jim Schwartz more than likely lost his job in the process. And the fans let Schwartz and the team hear it.
After Matthew Stafford threw a pick-six with under five minutes left to tie the game and the Lions went 3-and-out on their next two drives, the fans at Ford Field began to boo. Cameras caught Schwartz turning to the crowd and saying something that appeared to resemble an F-bomb during the booing. He was asked about that moment after the game.
“I was disappointed to hear boos,” Schwartz said, via The Detroit News. “We’re getting ready to go to overtime. Our crowd has been good for us but I thought our team needed a lift right there. We didn’t need to feel bad at that point. We were going into overtime at that point and I was just trying to get the team ready. It’s tough; players are getting booed and you want to keep them fired up.”
Schwartz obviously did say something to the crowd, or he would have taken the opportunity to deny it. On one hand, you can see why the fans wanted to boo after watching their team blown another lead against an opponent that should have been beaten. But Schwartz seemed most bothered by the fact that the game was far from over.
“We’re trying to get to overtime and try to win the game,” he said. “We want our fans to support us and our fans have been great for us. I think the psyche of the team at that point, we needed to have that spark. We needed to feel like we’re going to go out there and win it. That’s the only thing I was doing.”
The bottom line is the Lions blew countless chance this season in a division that was mediocre at best. The fans of Detroit could feel another choke coming on Sunday, and they reacted accordingly. If the team struggles again next season, it probably won’t be Schwartz who has to listen to the boos.
