The weirdest moment in Lions history ruined Thanksgiving

Throughout their history as an NFL franchise, the Detroit Lions have experienced many weird moments that still haunt their most passionate fans to this day. One of these several weird moments came on Thanksgiving in 2012 against the Houston Texans.

In the 2012 Thanksgiving matchup, the Detroit Lions were leading the, at the time, 9-1 Houston Texans 24-14 halfway through the third quarter. The Lions came into the Thanksgiving matchup with a 4-6 record and were looking to earn a signature win against one of the NFL's best teams to turn around their season.

It looked like the Lions were in prime position to pull off the Thanksgiving game upset until the Justin Forsett play. The Houston running back rushed for an 81-yard touchdown after clearly being down. Before the officials had a chance to review the play that would've taken the touchdown off the board for the Texans, former Lions head coach Jim Schwartz threw the challenge flag.

The Justin Forsett Touchdown Play

According to NFL rules, throwing a challenge flag on a scoring play doesn't allow for the play to be reviewed and is an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. A play that would've easily been overturned resulted in a Texans touchdown and allowed Houston to crawl back in the second half to force overtime.

The Texans would go on to win the Thanksgiving matchup against the Lions 34-31 in overtime. After the conclusion of the Thanksgiving game, the Lions went on to lose the remainder of their games, finishing the 2012 season with a 4-12 record.

READ MORE: The worst coach in Lions history makes Matt Patricia look like Bill Belichick

The mishap by Schwartz on Thanksgiving was one of many mistakes that he made in his five-year tenure as head coach for the Lions. Many Lions fans may go back to this game and say that this was the moment they were done with Schwartz as coach. Schwartz was fired by the Lions following the conclusion of the 2013 season, as Detroit failed to make the playoffs with a 7-9 record.

Schwartz took the Lions to the playoffs once in his tenure as head coach in 2011, as third-year quarterback Matthew Stafford finished the season with a 10-6 record before falling to Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints 45-28 in the NFC Wild Card Round. Schwartz recorded a 29-51 coaching record with the Lions.

More Lions news and analysis