Jim Harbaugh Fight: Postgame Tussle Stupidly Overshadows Big 49ers Win

You'd think that San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh and Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz were in a mega-million dollar brawl yesterday the way the media has handled their postgame handshake.

In reality, it was simply one coach getting too excited about his team's win and another coach reacting instinctively.

Fortunately for everyone involved, the two coaches were separated before anything truly stupid happened.

And the shame of it all—especially on Harbaugh's side of things—is that it has taken all the focus off the fact that the 49ers are the first team to beat the Detroit Lions this season.

Not only did they beat them, but they overcame 15 penalties and two turnovers to do it.

Detroit has made a living sneaking back into games and stealing them late, but eventually that catches up with you in the NFL.

San Francisco ran the ball down Detroit's throat, and despite not forcing a turnover out of the Lions, the 49ers out-gained them and simply found a way to win.

People don't see all the little things in games like this, but they make a huge difference.

49ers punter Andy Lee downed four of his nine punts inside Detroit's 20-yard line and only put one into the end zone for a touchback.

Lions punter Ryan Donahue, on the other hand, failed to down any of his eight punts inside San Francisco's 20-yard line.

Despite Calvin Johnson's seven-catch, 113-yard performance, it was a win for the 49ers defense.

San Francisco kept Johnson out of the end zone and forced him to be the third-most targeted receiver on his team behind tight end Brandon Pettigrew and wideout Nate Burleson.

Pettigrew and Burleson combined to catch 12 of their 24 targets, while "Megatron" caught seven of his nine targets.

These are the types of things that help teams win football games.

These are the types of things coaches should be praised for.

These are the types of things that caused the 49ers to hire Harbaugh in the first place.

But we aren't talking about any of them today, because we are more focused on what transpired for a few brief moments between two emotionally-charged coaches at the game's end.

There certainly is reason to discuss it, but football is an emotional game, and these types of things happen.

Nobody was hurt. Nobody threw a punch. It was simply a pair of emotional reactions from two coaches who thrive on enthusiasm.

When the dust settles, we should resume talking about the reason it happened in the first place—the game itself.

The 49ers proved something on Sunday in Detroit, and the time has come for people to take notice.