Mahomes leads the Chiefs to a 30-17 victory over Lions, and a fistfight erupts at the finish

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes threw for 257 yards and three touchdowns, scrambled for another score, and led the Kansas City Chiefs to a 30-17 victory over the ailing Detroit Lions on Sunday night in a game that ended with a fistfight among players.

Mahomes had tried to give Brian Branch a high-five after the final whistle, and the Lions safety walked right by him. Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster took umbrage and had words with Branch, who delivered a punch to set off the brief melee.

It took players and coaches from both teams to break up the skirmish and clear the field.

Marquise Brown had two touchdown receptions and Xavier Worthy had another for the Chiefs (3-3), who played a near-flawless game — no penalties, no turnovers — one week after a mistake-strewn, last-second loss at Jacksonville.

Kansas City also managed to hold in check the NFL's highest-scoring offense to snap Detroit's four-game winning streak.

Jared Goff finished with 203 yards passing for the Lions (4-2), though he did connect with Jameson Williams and Sam LaPorta for scores. Amon-Ra St. Brown was held to 45 yards receiving and Jahmyr Gibbs needed 17 carries to gain just 65 yards.

Detroit was intent on trying to grind down the Chiefs' defense and keep their potent offense off the field.

The Lions did a good job on the opening drive, too. They ran 15 plays over a span of 9 minutes, 39 seconds, chewing up so much clock that Mahomes and company looked downright bored on the sideline. And it looked as if it would pay off when David Montgomery took a direct snap and threw to Goff, who powered into the end zone from 1-yard out for a touchdown.

But the officials came together to discuss the play, and even though nobody had thrown a flag, they eventually said Goff was not set — an illegal motion penalty. After a delay of game, the Lions had to settle for Jake Bates' chip-shot field goal.

Kansas City wasted no time answering. marching 70 yards in eight plays. Mahomes hit three different targets on the drive, and Worthy hauled in a 6-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal to give the Chiefs the lead.

The back-and-forth continued throughout the first half: The Lions went the other way with Williams grabbing a 22-yard pass to give them the lead back, and the Chiefs answered with Mahomes scoring on a keeper for a 13-10 edge at halftime.

But a banged-up Lions defense missing cornerbacks D.J. Reed, Terrion Arnold and Avonte Maddox couldn't slow down the Chiefs, who are finding their offensive mojo again just in time to get suspended wide receiver Rashee Rice back next week.

They roared downfield on the opening drive of the second half, this time with Brown hauling in the touchdown catch to extend the lead. And when the Lions finally answered behind a flurry of passes to St. Brown and a nifty toss to LaPorta in the end zone, Kansas City rolled right back downfield as Brown pulled in another touchdown reception for a 27-17 lead.

Detroit proceeded to go three-and-out, and the Chiefs put the game away from there.

Missing Simmons

The Chiefs played without left tackle Josh Simmons, their first-round pick, who had a personal issue that kept him from making it back to Kansas City for the game. Jaylon Moore played well in his place against Aidan Hutchinson and the Detroit pass rush.

More on Mahomes

Mahomes has 302 career touchdown passes, including the postseason, becoming the quickest player in NFL history to reach the 300 mark. He accomplished the feat in 139 games, eight faster than Aaron Rodgers, to the delight of a crowd that included Taylor Swift — the fiancee of tight end Travis Kelce — and WNBA star Caitlin Clark.

Injuries

Lions: CB Terrion Arnold (shoulder) and LT Taylor Decker (shoulder) were inactive.

Chiefs: CB Nohl Williams was evaluated for a concussion and cleared in the first half.

Up next

Lions: Host Tampa Bay next Monday night.

Chiefs: Host Las Vegas next Sunday.