Kicking off the 2025 NFL preseason in style from Canton, Ohio's Tom Benson Stadium on Thursday night, the Los Angeles Chargers ran away with a 34–7 victory over the Detroit Lions in the annual Hall of Fame Game.
It was all L.A. from the jump in this one thanks, in part, to an impressive performance from quarterback Trey Lance. Following a fumbled opening kickoff from Lions linebacker Grant Stuard, the Chargers broke open the scoring immediately with a five-yard touchdown pass from Lance to tight end Will Dissly. The signal caller finished the night 13 of 20 passing for 120 yards and two touchdowns with a quarterback rating of 114.6.
"It was a ton of fun," Lance—the former No. 3 pick by the 49ers who's now onto his third NFL team since being drafted in 2021—told NBC's Melissa Stark after the game. "It's just great to play football again ... definitely fun to just be back out on the field."
Trey Lance tonight:
— NFL (@NFL) August 1, 2025
⚡️ 13/20
⚡️ 120 yards
⚡️ 2 TD pic.twitter.com/aQMvLHffi1
On the other sideline, Detroit's new offense struggled mightily. Now led by offensive coordinator John Morton following the departure of Ben Johnson to the Chicago Bears, the unit gained just 197 total yards, turned the ball over five times—including a combined three interceptions from quarterbacks Kyle Allen and Hendon Hooker—and converted just 1 of 11 third-down attempts on the night.
Outside of the play on the field, we got Jim Harbaugh waxing poetic about the game of football, the first look at the NFL's new virtual first down measurement system, and X (formerly Twitter) accounts sounding the alarms on the Lions regression (despite most of the team's important players sitting out the game).
Football's back, baby. The NFL preseason will continue next Thursday, Aug. 7 with a trio of matchups: Colts vs. Ravens, Bengals vs. Eagles, and Raiders vs. Seahawks.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Trey Lance Impresses in Chargers’ Hall of Fame Game Win Over Lions.
