Patrick Mahomes has been accused of igniting the chaotic brawl that marred the Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday night after new footage of him ‘taunting’ an opponent surfaced online.
A 30-17 victory for the Chiefs ended in anarchy at Arrowhead Stadium following a wild melee that left Kansas City’s JuJu Smith-Schuster with a bloody nose.
The violent scenes centered around Lions defensive back Brian Branch, who swung for Smith-Schuster at the end of the game after ignoring Mahomes when the the latter appeared to reach out and try to shake his hand.
The NFL has already launched an investigation to determine who was at fault for the fight, with punishments likely in store for both sets of teams.
Though as the league gets its probe underway, fans believe they’ve found the moment Mahomes provoked Branch into the angry outburst which sparked the feud.
At the end of the first half, the Chiefs quarterback rushed from the five-yard line for a touchdown after dropping a shoulder to get past two Lions defenders.
Patrick Mahomes has been accused of igniting the chaotic Lions-Chiefs brawl on Sunday night
A 30-17 victory for the Chiefs ended in anarchy at Arrowhead Stadium following a wild melee
As he made it into the end zone there was a coming together with Branch, who appeared to shove him slightly in frustration at conceding the touchdown.
Mahomes responded to the contact by spinning around, throwing the ball to the ground and pointing in the defender’s direction, before gesturing by brushing off his jersey and holding a bicep in the air.
Social-media users are convinced his antics explained why Branch didn’t want to shake his hand after the game, while a number of fans also questioned how Mahomes wasn’t penalized for taunting.
‘To the Mahomes was just trying to shake Branch’s hand crowd… go back to the Mahomes TD where he clearly taunts Branch after the play. And of course… no flag,’ one said.
Another put: ‘Ya’ll think Brian Branch wanted to shake Mahomes hand after he did this to him’.
‘Only mahomes can taunt and it’s not even questioned,’ claimed a third.
While one simply wrote in disbelief: ‘Where the f*** is that taunting penalty’.
Others, however, pointed the finger at Branch for overreacting at the end of the game.
One user argued: ‘Mahomes always celebrates like this. Branch is just a crybaby and a sore loser.’
Lions star Brian Branch swung for the Chiefs’ Juju Smith-Schuster, sparking a massive brawl
Mahomes taunted Branch earlier in the game, before his handshake attempt was snubbed
‘Yeah, punching him was the only mature response,’ another fan posted. ‘Any two year old can throw a fit. Grow up.’
While a third joked about claims that Mahomes instigated the brawl: ‘tell me you’ve never played a competitive sport before without telling me you’ve never played a competitive sport before’.
The Kansas City icon was dismissive of the incident when he was interviewed on the field once tempers had cooled down.
‘I mean, we play the game in between the whistles,’ Mahomes said, looking visibly unimpressed. ‘They can do all the extracurricular stuff they want to do. We will play the game in between the whistles.’
Branch said he had been goaded by Smith-Schuster and complained that referees also missed him getting hit from behind by the Chiefs wide receiver during the game.
‘I’m tired of people doing stuff in between the play and refs don’t catch it,’ Branch said. ‘They are trying to bully me out there. (I) Shouldn’t have done it. I got blocked in the back illegally, it was in front of the ref and the ref didn’t do anything.
‘Just stuff like that. I could have got hurt off the play. I still shouldn’t have done that. There was a lot of stuff but I shouldn’t have shown it and I apologize for that.’
