Za'Darius Smith is lighter in the wallet.
The Detroit Lions won a thrilling contest over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, a 34-31 final score that helped create additional distance between the two historic rivals in the race for the NFC North Division crown.
But one member of the Lions is lighter in the wallet after running afoul of the NFL. Defensive Za'Darius Smith was slapped with a $6,722 fine after his hit to the head of Packers quarterback Jordan Love; no penalty flag was called on the play; but he didn't escape punishment.
The play in question can be viewed below:
Ironically, Smith played three seasons with the Packers before joining the Lions.
It's another showdown for Smith and the Lions, as they face the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon at Ford Field. The Lions will be putting their NFL-leading 12-1 record to the test despite having already guaranteed themselves a playoff spot for the second consecutive season.
Sunday's Lions-Packers game was overshadowed by an incident involving a fan and Matt LaFleur
The Lions and Packers game was overshadowed by a pre-game incident between a Lions season ticket holder and Packers head coach Matt LaFleur; the Packers coach admitted that he's never been involved with anything like it.
“I've never been a part of something like that. He was talking junk to our players, giving them the throat-slash sign and, you know, you're trying to de-escalate it, and then he gets in my face,” said LaFleur. “I thought it was pretty unsportsmanlike. I've never seen that. I've been on many fields, and usually, they police that much better.
“I thought it was an arrogant fan that, you know, wanted to get in part of the action. I would like to see security or something step in there and get him out of there.”
The Lions fan in question had his season tickets revived for an indefinite amount of time.
