Just a week after the Kansas City Chiefs racked up a staggering 13 penalties in their Monday Night Football loss to the Jaguars, they seemed to perform a near-miracle in Week 6. It isn’t just about winning 30-17 against the Detroit Lions but playing a clean, disciplined game. Meanwhile, the Lions, sitting in second place in the NFC North, can’t seem to catch a break. If suspending Brian Branch and using Dan Campbell’s team as an example weren’t enough, the NFL on Saturday handed down two more disciplinary measures to its players.

As Detroit Lions beat writer Ben Raven reported, after reviewing the film from last week’s matchup at Arrowhead Stadium, NFL announced fines for both Linebacker Alex Anzalone and defensive lineman Tyler Lacy. Reason? “striking, kicking, tripping, or kneeing,” all falling under the category of unnecessary roughness.

Lacy was hit with a $5,722 fine for an incident during Isiah Pacheco’s 9-yard run early in the third quarter. Whereas Anzalone faced a heftier $12,172 penalty after tackling Brashard Smith with just over four minutes left in the fourth. For the linebacker, it’s his first fine since 2023, and for Lacy, it’s his very first since entering the league.

Back in 2022, Anzalone was penalized twice: once for unnecessary roughness in Week 1 against the Eagles and again for defensive holding in Week 7 versus the Cowboys. Known for his chippy style, Anzalone has drawn attention in the past for his physical play, including being called out by former Bears quarterback Justin Fields as “doing a little bit too much extra stuff” during a podcast in 2025. Anzalone later shrugged off the criticism, noting he lets his play speak for itself and that he rarely crosses lines that draw fines.

Tyler Lacy, in contrast, joined the Lions only in August 2025 after being waived by the Jacksonville Jaguars and has no prior fines, making the $5,722 penalty his first mark on the league’s disciplinary ledger.

The duo joins teammate Brian Branch in getting hit with the league’s disciplinary actions after week 6. The trouble started when a Lions defender shoved the Chiefs receiver, Juju Smith-Schuster, to the ground after the game. This sparked a postgame clash that needed both teams to step in and separate them. Interestingly, neither Smith-Schuster nor Patrick Mahomes faced any fines for their roles in Sunday’s chaos. But did they really play a clean game?

Mahomes, Smith-Schuster get out clean

With just 37 seconds left in the first half, Mahomes powered in a 1-yard touchdown to give the Chiefs a 13-10 lead. Cameras caught him seemingly taunting Branch while Mahomes pointed in his direction and flexed.

Some Lions fans think that this should have drawn a penalty and even a fine. After all, Mahomes appeared to spin the ball and flexed towards Branch, which many interpret as taunting. Others argue the spin wasn’t aimed at Branch, the point signified the penalty was on Detroit, and the flex is just Mahomes’ signature celebration.

Lions head coach, Dan Campbell, was also compelled to address the incident during his Wednesday appearance on radio 97.1 FM The Ticket. According to Campbell, the league office in New York instructed the on-field crew to overturn the Patrick Mahomes touchdown. However, head referee Craig Wrolstad told the reporters after the game that they never actually received any directive from New York to reverse the score. But the drama still didn’t just end there.

When just around 3 minutes were left in regulation, Smith-Schuster threw what looked like an illegal block in the back of Branch, sending the Lions defender crashing to the ground. This led to Branch speaking up to the reporters after the game, pointing to Smith-Schuster’s actions that sparked the postgame clash. “It was a childish thing, but I’m tired of people doing stuff in between the plays and refs don’t catch it,” Branch said. “They be trying to bully me out there. I should have never did it. It was childish.”

Are the refs really favoring the Chiefs? Should Schuster have been fined for that block? Was it a taunt or just another Mahomes celebration? The refs made their calls, and so have the Detroit fans.