It was a wild scene on Sunday night at the conclusion of the Detroit Lions‘ game at the Chiefs. After Kansas City prevailed in a hotly contested early-season game with playoff implications, tempers flared. Lions S Brian Branch got into an altercation with Chiefs WR JuJu Smith-Schuster that quickly escalated into a confrontation between both teams.
Branch appeared to stiff Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes in the handshake line, which Smith-Schuster took exception to. He said something to Branch, and the Lions safety responded by hitting Smith-Schuster and knocking him to the ground. Branch has since apologized for the incident and the NFL has suspended him for one game, which Branch failed to appeal. Detroit coaches and players alike have called Branch’s behavior unacceptable.
After the game, Branch expressed frustration at how the game was officiated, feeling that the Chiefs got the benefit of the whistle. Bizarrely, the official NFL Films account responded with a since-deleted video of Branch’s “lowlights” from the game, seeming to imply his complaints were unfounded due to getting beaten on some plays.
The video sparked outrage from Lions fans, and Detroit coaches and players have called out the league for targeting Branch in this way. Louis Riddick has since apologized for the video.
Detroit Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown on the Brian Branch Video
Greg Fiume/GettyBALTIMORE, MARYLAND – SEPTEMBER 22: Brian Branch #32 of the Detroit Lions attempts to intercept the ball against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on September 22, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
“Yeah, I thought that video was crazy,” Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown said in his press conference on Friday. “I don’t know why it was released [or] the reasoning behind it. As I was watching it — I remember it popped up and I was like ‘I don’t know if it’s like a trick, a mockery.’ I clicked the NFL page to see if it was actually them. And it was.”
“I don’t know the reasoning, why they posted it, what they got out of that,” continued St. Brown. “But I mean, Brian Branch is an awesome dude. He’s one of the — I mean, in the building he’s one of the nicest dudes. He’s quiet, you never really see him get mad, he’s always smiling. I mean, he made a mistake, and he knows it and he apologized. I don’t know why it’s still getting dragged along, but yeah that video was…I don’t think that video was right.”
The Detroit Lions Need to Rebound After Their Tough Loss
After suffering a beatdown at the hands of the Packers in their season opener, the Lions rattled off four straight wins before last week’s loss to the Chiefs. Now they sit at 4-2, on the precipice of a hugely important stretch of games for their season’s prospects.
On Sunday, Detroit plays the NFC-leading Buccaneers, followed by the Vikings, Commanders, and Eagles. All four of those teams are serious playoff contenders, at least through six weeks, and if the Lions want to stay in the hunt for the NFC’s top seed, they need to hold serve in these games.
The race for the NFC’s No. 1 playoff seed is shaping up to be a tight one, with the Bucs, Packers, Rams, Seahawks, Eagles, and potentially others getting involved alongside the Lions. Detroit has a tall task ahead of them to remain in the hunt.
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