Detroit Lions vs. team match Kansas City Chiefs It was expected to be a gutsy fight, but few thought it would end in a literal brawl on Sunday night.
The Chiefs had a poor start to the season by their high standards and started the game. painful loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars last week. But they dominated the Lions, who suffered a number of defensive injuries on both sides of the ball, to secure a 30-17 victory to move to 3-3 on the season.
But the evening ended with players from both teams crowding the field after a fight broke out over the most trivial of reasons. Lions safety Brian Branch refused to accept a handshake from Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes after the end of the game. Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster bristled at the slight and exchanged words with Branch, who sent him to the ground with a shove to the face. Dozens of players then clashed and the fight continued, with Branch managing to knock off Smith-Schuster's helmet.
“I did a little childish thing,” Branch said, “but I'm tired of people doing things between games and the refs not seeing it. They're trying to intimidate me and I don't do it – I shouldn't have done it. It was childish.”
Lions coach Dan Campbell said Branch, who was fined for wearing a mask and unsportsmanlike conduct in a game against the Green Bay Packers last month, was wrong.
“I love Brian Branch,” Campbell said, “but what he did is unforgivable and it will not be accepted here. That's not what we do. That's not what we do. I apologized to [Chiefs coach Andy Reid] both the Chiefs and Smith-Schuster. This is not normal. We don't do that here. It won't be good. He knows it. Our team knows this. We don't do that.”
Reed said the incident left Smith-Schuster with a bloody nose. “The guy walked up and hit JuJu for seemingly no reason,” Reed said. “It's tough. But JuJu's nose took some pretty good damage.”
Branch's disappointment may have stemmed from the lack of response to the Smith-Schuster fight. Looks like he blocked it illegally rear safety. There was also a notable decision early in the game when the Lions ruled out a touchdown. Detroit thought they had scored – and went up 7-0 – when quarterback Jared Goff caught a pass from running back David Montgomery. But even though the flag was not raised, officials ruled it due to illegal movement and the Lions had to settle for a field goal.
“It doesn't matter whether I agree or not [with the penalty]” said Campbell, whose team is 4-2 after the loss. “They said he never stopped. He stayed moving. You can't stay moving. But it didn't affect the game. We lost by 13 points.”
