Brian Branch is hitting the showers early on Sunday.
The Detroit Lions lost a huge piece of their defense in the middle of their massive NFC North clash against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
In the second quarter, star safety Brian Branch was flagged for unnecessary roughness after hitting Packers wide receiver Bo Melton high after Melton dropped a pass. After a few moments, the replay center buzzed down and ejected Branch from the game.
Branch was understandably upset with the call, and he picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on his way off the field as well.
The Lions will have to figure something out the rest of the way without arguably their best healthy player on the defense. Throughout his young career, Branch has been a Swiss Army Knife who can do everything for the defense.
The Lions defense has had an excellent first half against an explosive Packers offense, both before and after Branch left the game. They held the Packers to just three points in the whole half while creating a few big plays of their own. The biggest play of the bunch came at the end of the half when defensive back Kerby Joseph picked off a screen pass and ran it all the way back for a touchdown.
That huge play by the Lions defense gave them a 17-3 lead going into the half in a game that can really separate them from the pack in the NFC North. The Packers would pick up their third loss if this result holds, and the Lions would hold head-to-head tiebreakers with both the Packers and the Minnesota Vikings with one game against each in the books.
Branch is unlikely to face any more discipline from the league for this incident. As long as that holds true, he will be back out on the field and flying around for the Lions defense next Sunday against the Houston Texans.
