Dan Campbell denounces Brian Branch's actions that sparked Lions-Chiefs fight

Mike Moraitis

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Dan Campbell denounces Brian Branch's actions that sparked Lions-Chiefs fight image

Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

The Detroit Lions had an ugly showing against the Kansas City Chiefs in the Week 6 loss on Sunday night, but what happened after the game was even uglier.

As the two teams were closing out the game following Kansas City's final kneel down, Lions safety Brian Branch landed an open-handed punch on Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Of course, Smith-Schuster was none-too-pleased with Branch's strike and went after the Lions safety, which led to both teams getting into a scuffle.

After the game, Lions head coach Dan Campbell called Branch's actions "unacceptable" and publicly apologized to the Chiefs.

"I love Brian Branch, but what he did was inexcusable," Campbell said. "It's not going to be accepted here. It's not what we do. I apologize to coach (Andy) Reid and the Chiefs and Schuster. That's not OK. That's not what we do here, and it's not going to be OK. He knows it, our team knows it. That's not what we do."

When asked about the fight, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was very clearly peeved by what Branch did.

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

Branch's punch was almost certainly sparked by Smith-Schuster jawing at him, but that obviously doesn't excuse what Branch did.

Based on a separate video, the Lions safety ignored Mahomes' post-game handshake, so that might have led to Smith-Schuster having words.

Nevertheless, it's good to see Campbell denounce what Branch did and apologize to Kansas City. Both things were needed.

Meanwhile, Branch is going to be lighter in the wallet by next weekend.

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Mike Moraitis

Mike Moraitis is a freelance writer who covers the NFL for the Sporting News. Over his nearly two decades covering sports, Mike has also worked for Bleacher Report, USA TODAY and FanSided. He hates writing in the third person.