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.<\/p>\n
There aren\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
Lance looked as good as he\u2019s looked at any point thus far in his NFL career, which isn\u2019t 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\u2019s preseason finale for the Dallas Cowboys.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Trey Lance dropping it the bucket for KeAndre Lambert-Smith \ud83c\udfaf@ProFootballHOF<\/a> Game on NBC \u2014 NFL (@NFL) August 1, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Veteran Taylor Heinicke was the Chargers\u2019 backup in 2024, but the Chargers signed Lance, the No. 3 pick in the 2021 draft, in free agency. As The Athletic\u2019s Chargers beat writer Daniel Popper wrote coming into the game<\/a>, 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\u2019s multi-dimensional skill set is also intriguing, paired with Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman.<\/p>\n A new virtual measurement system<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t 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<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NFL (@NFL) August 1, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n The virtual measurement doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n Roger Goodell speaks on NFL tragedy<\/p>\n The NFL was faced with a tragic situation earlier this week when a gunman opened fire in New York at the NFL headquarters.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a difficult thing, particularly when you\u2019re dealing with a senseless act like this,\u201d Goodell said. \u201cThere are no excuses for those senseless acts. They\u2019re 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\u2019s particularly hard.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u00a0one of four people killed<\/a>\u00a0earlier this week.<\/p>\n Lions struggle with ball security<\/p>\n The Lions spent last week tackling each other in shorts and fighting each other \u2014 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.<\/p>\n Detroit struggled with ball security, losing the turnover battle 5-0. Linebacker Grant Stuard fumbled the opening kickoff return, Kyle Allen threw two interceptions \u2014 one nearly returned for a touchdown \u2014 and Jakobie Keeney-James muffed a punt deep in Detroit territory.<\/p>\n Neither team lit up the box score, but turnovers leading to strong field position proved to be the difference. The Lions\u2019 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\u2019t be happy about. On the bright side, rookies Isaac TeSlaa and Ahmed Hassanein flashed. A rough start to the preseason, but hey, it\u2019s the preseason.<\/p>\n (Photo of Jim Harbaugh and Trey Lance: Nick Cammett \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Stream on @NFLPlus<\/a> + Peacock pic.twitter.com\/desvgOfDRA<\/a><\/p>\n