KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A long, frustrating night for the Detroit Lions inside Arrowhead Stadium ended with Brian Branch delivering a punch to Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, setting off a brief fistfight among players from both teams.
It was about as much fight as the Lions showed all night.
They were dominated on both sides of the ball by a Kansas City team that was coming off a mistake-filled mess in Jacksonville and had no interest in falling two games below .500. Instead, the Chiefs shut down the prolific Detroit offense, holding it to less than half its season scoring average, and their own offense romped up and down the field on the way to a 30-17 victory Sunday night.
Then came a whole bunch of fireworks.
As red ones were set bursting over the stadium to celebrate the Chiefs’ victory, Patrick Mahomes tried to give a high-five to Branch as they met near midfield. The Lions safety walked right past the Kansas City quarterback and Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster took umbrage with the move, walking up to Branch and having a few words with him.
Branch responded by throwing a right hook that knocked Smith-Schuster to the ground.
The veteran wide receiver leaped to his feet and went after Branch, who played through an ankle injury that had kept him out of practice most of the week. Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco tried to get between them, but Branch succeeded in ripping Smith-Schuster’s helmet off as dozens of players from both teams converged on the scrum.
Eventually, coaches and players managed to separate the parties, and they finally left the field for the locker room. Branch could be facing a hefty fine and even a suspension for his actions.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Detroit, which was trying to pull off a rare feat by winning two consecutive games in Arrowhead Stadium. Instead, the Lions allowed 355 yards of total offense, forced just one punt, and were unable to make the stops they needed late in the fourth quarter to give their offense a chance to mount a comeback.
Jared Goff finished with just 203 yards passing, though he did have touchdown throws to Jameson Williams and Sam LaPorta, while Amon-Ra St. Brown was held to 45 yards receiving. Jahmyr Gibbs needed 17 carries for 65 yards, and nine carries for 32 yards came on the game’s opening drive, when Detroit marched right down field for what looked like a touchdown.
David Montgomery took a direct snap near the goal line and threw to Goff, who had gone into motion, caught the pass and then barreled into the end zone. But long after the play had finished, the officials huddled and decided that Goff never got set — even though no flags were thrown on the flag — and the illegal motion penalty wiped away the the touchdown.
After a delay-of-game penalty, the Lions had to settle for a field goal and a 3-0 lead.
It was just the start of a frustrating night for coach Dan Campbell and his team.
