Football season is officially underway, as the Los Angeles Chargers defeated the Detroit Lions, 34-7, in the annual Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio.
There aren’t usually too many serious roster discussions that come out of the Hall of Fame Game, but the Chargers could have an interesting situation brewing at quarterback behind Justin Herbert. Chargers quarterback Trey Lance completed 13 of his 20 pass attempts for 120 yards, tossing two touchdowns and avoiding any interceptions.
Lance looked as good as he’s looked at any point thus far in his NFL career, which isn’t the biggest of sample sizes. In four years in the league, Lance has started just five regular-season games, posting a 56.6 completion percentage while throwing five touchdowns to four interceptions. Even his preseason games have been disappointing, highlighted by the five interceptions Lance threw in last year’s preseason finale for the Dallas Cowboys.
Lance looked like a much-improved player Thursday night. He was poised, tossing his first touchdown on a fourth-down bootleg. On the ensuing Chargers drive, Lance had a perfect touch pass deep to KeAndre Lambert-Smith.
Trey Lance dropping it the bucket for KeAndre Lambert-Smith 🎯@ProFootballHOF Game on NBC
Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/desvgOfDRA— NFL (@NFL) August 1, 2025
Veteran Taylor Heinicke was the Chargers’ backup in 2024, but the Chargers signed Lance, the No. 3 pick in the 2021 draft, in free agency. As The Athletic’s Chargers beat writer Daniel Popper wrote coming into the game, the case of Heinicke versus Lance is one of experience vs. upside. Lance turned 25 years old less than three months ago, while Heinicke is 32 years old. Lance’s multi-dimensional skill set is also intriguing, paired with Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman.
A new virtual measurement system
It doesn’t appear that an index card will be necessary anymore to determine if a team got a first down or not. The NFL debuted a new virtual measurement system in the first half, after Lions running back Craig Reynolds ran for 10 yards on the first play of the second quarter. Instead of the chain gang running onto the field to see if Reynolds had enough for the first down, officials waited for a virtual measurement to confirm that Reynolds had enough to move the chains.
Introducing the new virtual measurement system for first downs, which allows the NFL to accurately and efficiently measure the distance between the spotted ball and the line to gain. pic.twitter.com/QvlsSmWnSo
— NFL (@NFL) August 1, 2025
The virtual measurement doesn’t completely remove referees from the mix, as they still have to spot the ball. Once they do that, technology takes over and handles the rest.
Roger Goodell speaks on NFL tragedy
The NFL was faced with a tragic situation earlier this week when a gunman opened fire in New York at the NFL headquarters.
“It’s a difficult thing, particularly when you’re dealing with a senseless act like this,” Goodell said. “There are no excuses for those senseless acts. They’re hard for all of us to understand when it inflicts pain on people you know and people you care about and people that we deal with on a daily basis. That’s particularly hard.”
Goodell did not travel to Canton for the game, as he stayed back in New York to attend the funeral service of Didarul Islam, the NYPD officer who was one of four people killed earlier this week.
Lions struggle with ball security
The Lions spent last week tackling each other in shorts and fighting each other — to a point where Dan Campbell had to pause practice on consecutive days to reel things in. It felt like that pent-up physicality would be on display tonight. But it was the Chargers who came out swinging.
Detroit struggled with ball security, losing the turnover battle 5-0. Linebacker Grant Stuard fumbled the opening kickoff return, Kyle Allen threw two interceptions — one nearly returned for a touchdown — and Jakobie Keeney-James muffed a punt deep in Detroit territory.
Neither team lit up the box score, but turnovers leading to strong field position proved to be the difference. The Lions’ offense could never quite get into a rhythm thanks to the turnovers. Special teams play was also ugly for the Lions, something coordinator Dave Fipp won’t be happy about. On the bright side, rookies Isaac TeSlaa and Ahmed Hassanein flashed. A rough start to the preseason, but hey, it’s the preseason.
(Photo of Jim Harbaugh and Trey Lance: Nick Cammett / Getty Images)
