Lance leads Chargers over Lions
CANTON, Ohio (AP) — On his third team in his fifth season, Trey Lance played like a No. 3 overall pick.
Lance threw for 120 yards and two touchdowns, and the Los Angeles Chargers beat the Detroit Lions 34-7 in the Hall of Fame game that kicked off the NFL’s preseason Thursday night.
“Big night for Trey. Just played calm, cool, collected, ran the operation, threw the ball really well,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said.
The game opened with a moment of silence for the four people killed earlier this week by a shooter who was targeting league headquarters in New York.
The gunman also wounded a league employee in the shooting Monday night. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told NBC he visited the employee for an hour on Wednesday and said the man was improving.
There was increased security around Tom Benson Stadium and the Pro Football Hall of Fame village.
Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery, Penei Sewell and the rest of Detroit’s star-studded offense didn’t see any action against Los Angeles.
Coach Dan Campbell’s Lions, who went one-and-done in the playoffs last season after winning a franchise-record 15 games, also sat their top two draft picks.
“It’s the first one out of the gate,” Campbell said. “We turned it over five times and had zero takeaways. That’s hard. Can’t put the defense in that kind of a position. It’s hard to get a rhythm when you turn the ball over.”
Lions star edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson told NBC in the second half he can’t wait for Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
Hutchinson had 7 1/2 sacks in five games last season before he went down with a leg injury.