A massive brawl broke out between the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions as their NFL meeting at Arrowhead Stadium came to a close. Despite a strong performance from both offence and defence, securing a 30-17 victory for the Chiefs over the Lions, the match ended on a sour note. The fight seemed to ignite just after the Chiefs had confirmed their win.
Lions safety Brian Branch, evidently irritated by Chiefs receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, bypassed Kareem Hunt and Patrick Mahomes despite their efforts to shake his hand. As Smith-Schuster extended his hand in sportsmanship, Branch struck the Chiefs star on the helmet, knocking him to the ground. The receiver retaliated with fury; he dashed back to Branch, who was being led away by Hunt, and hit him back.
Branch then seized Smith-Schuster by the facemask and hurled the receiver onto the turf once more, only to fall himself while Trent McDuffie and Mahomes frantically tried to separate the two. The brawl continued on the pitch as players from both the Chiefs and Lions attempted to intervene.
While Mike Tirico described the incident as a “pretty significant brawl,” NBC commentator Cris Collinsworth remarked: “Brian Branch was involved in something, there was a little exchange and people came running… the league’s going to take action on that one, against Branch.”
The altercation witnessed both teams’ entire squads becoming embroiled in unsightly scenes that tarnished the Chiefs’ victory.
Smith-Schuster was seen with a towel covering his nose as he headed towards the changing room, indicating he may have fared worse than Branch in the confrontation.
Speaking about the fracas following the match, Mahomes told NBC: “We play the game in between the whistles. They can do all the extracurricular stuff they want to do, but we play the game in between the whistles.
“We thought we played a great game today and we’ll keep this momentum moving forward.”
The Chiefs clinched victory courtesy of an outstanding display from Mahomes, who carved up the Detroit defence effortlessly with 22 successful passes from 30 attempts, accumulating 257 yards and three touchdowns.
He connected with Hollywood Brown on two occasions in the end zone. The Lions, on the other hand, suffered a disappointing defeat.
Their defence struggled to make an impact with decisions not going in their favour and Amon-Ra St. Brown was effectively contained.
The Chiefs, with a 3-3 record, are set to face off against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. The Lions, meanwhile, will challenge Baker Mayfield’s soaring Tampa Bay Buccaneers a day later.