The story coming out of the Detroit Lions’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs quickly took a detour in the closing moments as a scuffle between the teams ensued at Arrowhead Stadium Sunday night.
Lions safety Brian Branch was at the center of a tense moment where he brushed off an attempted handshake from Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
When Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster walked over to confront Branch following the exchange, Branch shoved him to the ground with an open-hand “pie face.”
A fight broke out at the end of the Lions-Chiefs game.
The events that led to it:
◽️ Brian Branch refused to shake hands with Patrick Mahomes
◽️ JuJu Smith-Schuster confronted Branch
◽️ Branch slapped Smith-Schuster
🎥 @SNFonNBC | H/T @Rate_the_Refs pic.twitter.com/Ki4xjhHOMD
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) October 13, 2025
Smith-Schuster got up and attempted to push Branch down as players from both teams came in to break up the situation.
According to The Athletic’s Jesse Newell, Smith-Schuster said he was bleeding from his nose following the altercation.
“I know he’s a better player than that, a better person,” Smith-Schuster said of Branch. “He’ll learn from his mistakes.”
“He’s a great player, right? He’s huge for the team. I think after the game, I expect to shake his hand and say, ‘Good game’ and move Pat’s way. But he threw a punch, and at the end of the day, it’s a team sport, right? We came out here. We did our job. We won. And that’s all that matters.”
Smith-Schuster said he thought Branch was frustrated due to his frequent job in blocking him downfield during the game, which the Chiefs won 30-17.
“Just doing my job,” Smith-Schuster said. “I played between the whistles, and after the game, he took advantage of what he did.”
Lions coach Dan Campbell called what Branch did “inexcusable” and apologized to the Chiefs and coach Andy Reid.
“Well, you guys saw it. The guy came up and hit JuJu for what looked like no reason, we’re taking a knee,” Reid said. “So, that’s tough, but pretty good damage on JuJu’s nose.”
Branch will likely draw attention from the league office for the incident. He’s already been fined three times this season, once for taunting in Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers.
It’s not unusual that tempers will flare throughout the course of a game, particularly a high-profile one between physical teams like Sunday night’s game.
But, all involved indicated the scuffle took things too far.
“We play the game in between the whistles. They can do all the extracurricular stuff they want to do, but we play the game between the whistles,” Mahomes said on the NBC broadcast. “And we thought we played a pretty great game today”
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.