Detroit went on the road and overcame bad weather and a questionable officiating call to dismantle the Packers and continue its dominant start to the season.
Midway through the second quarter of a critical NFC North Division game on the road, the Detroit Lions lost their defensive signal-caller, safety Brian Branch, to an ejection. Branch appeared to make an attempt at lowering his shoulder just as Green Bay Packers wide receiver Bo Melton was also turning his body, resulting in an unintended helmet to helmet collision.
There have been myriad instances of purposeful violence in the NFL over the years; complete, ejection-worthy stupidity that warranted the league dropping its judicial hammer. Just watchin which the NFL ejected a player. Last year, Damontae Kazee went nearly horizontal, assuming the position of a diver jet as Indianapolis Colts receiver Michael Pittman Jr. was also diving toward the turf.
We note that to say this: It’s the kind of administrative nonsense that can derail a game for a team that might struggle to control itself emotionally. We’re at a point in time where NFL coaches can barely keep their players in the building for practice . Maybe the weather unfairly benefitted the Lions given their ability to control games on the ground .
Up until the beginning of this year, we could reasonably say that the only team unbothered by it all was the Kansas City Chiefs. Eight games into this season, there’s no doubt the two-time defending Super Bowl champions have company.Conor Orr is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, where he covers the NFL and cohosts the MMQB Podcast. Orr has been covering the NFL for more than a decade and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.
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