The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Detroit Lions on Sunday Night Football, 30-17. After the final whistle sounded, safety Brian Branch put the L in large bold font by slapping JuJu Smith-Schuster and sparking a scuffle.
Branch ignored the offering of a handshake by Patrick Mahomes and went straight at Smith-Schuster, the Chiefs wide receiver, who also put his hand out for a five before the Lions safety smacked him on the facemask.
POSTGAME SCUFFLE! pic.twitter.com/XMraQWjxVL
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) October 13, 2025
Brian Branch started the fight in the field. Brian Branch threw a punch and knocked JuJu Smith-Schuster down. Brian Branch should be suspended. THERE IS NO PLACE IN SPORTS FOR THAT. pic.twitter.com/C8DtVukdlF
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) October 13, 2025
Smith-Schuster stumbled back, grabbing his helmet, before charging at Branch and eventually taking him to the ground. The proverbial benches cleared as more Chiefs and Lions got involved.
Brian Branch could end up with a suspension after fighting with Chiefs
This is the last thing the Lions needed after their four-game winning streak was broken and they suffered their second loss of the season. They came into Sunday night's game with concerns on defense, particularly in the secondary. DJ Reed, Terrion Arnold and Avonte Maddox were already unavailable, leaving Detroit vulnerable against Patrick Mahomes and company.
As expected, the Chiefs offense got the better of the Lions defense. Mahoms threw for 257 yards and three touchdowns. Hollywood Brown caught two touchdowns and Xavier Worthy caught the other. Smith-Schuster had three catches for 57 yards while Travis Kelce led the attack with six catches for 78 yards.
Losses happen in the NFL. You move on and hope to do better next week. Only, it'll be harder for the Lions defense to rebound against Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers with a starting safety suspended.
We don't know what Branch's punishment will be for starting that fight, but the video won't do him any favors. The Chiefs were acting cordial enough. Unless Smith-Schuster said something egregious, Branch doesn't have a leg to stand on for clocking him like that after the game was over. This happening at the end of a nationally televised game ups the stakes.
Frankly, it would be a surprise if Branch wasn't suspended for at least one game. He's already been fined three times this season and 13 times in his career since 2023. In September of 2024 he was fined for fighting against the Chargers. He picked up a fine for an obscene gesture in November of 2024 and taunting fines in December of 2024 and September this year. So he's not exactly working from a clean slate either.