2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game Preview

NFL preseason football is about to kick off—sort of. The Los Angeles Chargers will be going up against the Detroit Lions in the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, scheduled for 8 PM in Canton, Ohio. It’s interesting, as this marks the first instance of an NFL preseason game in July since the year 2000.

On a notable side note, Chargers’ all-time tight end, Antonio Gates, will be officially enshrined into the Hall of Fame alongside Eric Allen, Jared Allen, and Sterling Sharpe this Saturday.

The Lions, who enjoyed a strong season last year with a record of 15-2, were the NFC’s top seed but faced an unexpected playoff upset against the Washington Commanders in the divisional round. Following that game, both offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn pursued head coaching roles. Johnson ended up with the Chicago Bears, while Glenn took over as the head coach of the New York Jets.

In an interesting twist for the Chargers, who finished their season with an 11-6 record under new head coach Jim Harbaugh, they unfortunately stumbled in the playoffs, losing in the wild card round to the Houston Texans, where quarterback Justin Herbert had quite a challenging game. In that matchup, he threw four interceptions—a career high—in a 32-12 loss.

Looking ahead, Herbert won’t be taking the field on Thursday. Instead, rookie quarterback Trey Lance, along with undrafted rookie Uiagalelei, will be getting some snaps in his place.

For the Lions, they will have Hendon Hooker and Kyle Allen under center for this exhibition game. Hooker, selected in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft, appeared in three games last season, while Allen, who spent last year with the Pittsburgh Steelers, is now in his first season with the Lions.