Chiefs vs. Lions fight: How Brian Branch started postgame scuffle with Patrick Mahomes, JuJu Smith-Schuster

Daniel Mader

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Chiefs vs. Lions fight: How Brian Branch started postgame scuffle with Patrick Mahomes, JuJu Smith-Schuster image

Just as the Kansas City Chiefs were securing their 30-17 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday night, a scuffle broke out.

Patrick Mahomes had just taken a knee after a four-touchdown performance. But just as he did so, Lions safety Brian Branch and Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster exchanged hits, causing both teams to get into a shoving match around the middle of the field.

Just prior to the scuffle, Mahomes appeared to offer a handshake to Branch, who ignored him. Earlier in the game, Mahomes had celebrated a rushing touchdown directly in front of the Detroit defender.

Here's a breakdown of how Chiefs vs. Lions on "Sunday Night Football" ended in a physical altercation between the two sides, led by Branch and Smith-Schuster.

MORE: How Lions had touchdown called back for illegal motion vs. Chiefs

Chiefs vs. Lions fight: Brian Branch swings at JuJu Smith-Schuster

The preface to the Mahomes-Branch situation to end Sunday's matchup was the quarterback's rushing touchdown earlier in the night. As Mahomes ran up the middle into the end zone, Branch had approached him at the last second.

After scoring, Mahomes appeared to turn toward Branch, spin the football and point at him while celebrating.

Later in the game, Smith-Schuster hit Branch with a block that the Lions safety took exception to. This added to frustrations as Branch felt the block was illegal.

Flash forward to the end of the Week 6 game, as the Chiefs were taking a knee to seal the win, Branch was unhappy. As the safety was walking past Mahomes, the Kansas City star offered him a handshake, even touching Branch's arm to get his attention.

Branch completely ignored Mahomes, and Smith-Schuster appeared to notice and confront Branch about that interaction. Just after Mahomes made his final knee to end the game, Branch then approached Smith-Schuster, hitting him in the helmet.

Smith-Schuster retaliated just as the Chiefs' bench came onto the field to break it up and Lions players came in for support as well. By the end, there was a mess of players either shoving one another or trying to break up the altercation.

Mahomes stepped in toward the altercation when he noticed Branch and Smith-Schuster going at it.

Here's another angle of the full interaction. Mahomes takes the knee, Branch walks towards Smith-Schuster and hits him, then Smith-Schuster sprints back and hits Branch back as the two sparked the incident in the middle of the field.

A photo of Isiah Pacheco tackling Branch postgame also emerged from the interaction:

Smith-Schuster was seen walking to the locker room with a towel over his nose after the altercation.

Postgame, Smith-Schuster spoke on the incident, saying, "I think after the game, I expected to shake his hand and say 'good game,' and move past the play but he threw a punch and, at the end of the day, it's a team sport."

While he was left bloodied, Smith-Schuster is not believed to have suffered any structural damage to his nose.

MORE: Updates, highlights from Chiefs vs. Lions

What did Patrick Mahomes say about Brian Branch?

Postgame, Mahomes was asked by NBC's broadcast crew about the scuffle.

"They can do all the extracurricular stuff they want to do, but we play the game in-between the whistles," Mahomes said.

Will Brian Branch be fined by the NFL?

There has been no official word from the NFL about potential punishments for Branch, Smith-Schuster, etc. from Sunday night's scuffle between the Lions and Chiefs.

However, given the league's policies and history of punishing players for on-the-field fights, it's likely that Branch and Smith Schuster will be hearing from the league in the coming days.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell called Branch's actions "inexcusable" postgame.

"It's not what we're about," Campbell said. "That's not what we do here."

Branch spoke on the incident postgame, saying "I did a little childish thing," though he added that "I'm tired of people doing stuff in between the plays and the ref don't catch it, trying to bully me out there. But I should have never did it. It was childish."

Daniel Mader

Daniel Mader is a Content Producer for The Sporting News. He joined SN in 2024 as an editorial intern following graduation from Penn State University. He has previously written for Sports Illustrated, NBC Sports, the Centre Daily Times, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Daily Collegian and LancasterOnline. Daniel grew up in Lancaster, Penn., with a love for baseball that’ll never fade, but could also talk basketball or football for days.