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While the NFL Hall of Fame Game is technically an exhibition, it serves as the NFL’s first live-action football of the new season. Chargers legend Antonio Gates will be inducted into the Hall of Fame along with Eric Allen, Sterling Sharpe and Jared Allen.
Both teams will rest most of their starters, meaning fans can expect a heavy dose of backups and young players. But there are some long-term storylines worth watching here.
The 2024 Detroit Lions built on their 2023 momentum and proved that their resurgence wasn’t a fluke. Finishing the regular season with a 15–2 record, Detroit established itself as one of the NFC’s most complete and dangerous teams. Dan Campbell’s squad combined a high-powered offense with a much-improved defense, earning the No. 1 seed in the NFC and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. However, they suffered injuries to important defensive players, including star edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson and Alim McNeil.
The Lions would ultimately fall to the underdog Washington Commanders 45-31 in the NFC Divisional Round in what was a shocking defeat. Running back Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 105 yards and 2 touchdowns, but the mistakes started piling up. Quarterback Jared Goff threw 3 interceptions, and the Lions banged-up defense had no answer for Jayden Daniels and the Washington offense. Despite their firepower, the Lions’ prolific attack couldn’t overcome the turnover margin and injuries, ending what had been a promising season.
The Chargers had a solid start for Jim Harbaugh’s first year as head coach and showed improvement on both sides of the ball. Led by star quarterback Justin Herbert and breakout rookie wide receiver Ladd McConkey, the Chargers finished 11-6 and clinched a playoff spot during the last week of the season. However, the Chargers’ playoff campaign ended with a 32–12 loss to the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round.
L.A. led 6–0 after the first quarter, but things unraveled quickly. Justin Herbert, usually a model of poise, threw a career-high 4 interceptions in a game where the offense never got going. The Chargers managed two field goals from kicker Cameron Dicker and an 86-yard Ladd McConkey touchdown. Houston dominated time of possession behind Joe Mixon’s 106 rushing yards and a balanced passing game. A silver lining for L.A. was rookie wide receiver Ladd McConkey, who exploded for 197 yards and a touchdown on 9 catches, showing flashes of big-time potential. Still, it wasn’t enough to overcome a sputtering offense in a disappointing loss.
The Chargers enter 2025 looking to build upon what was a successful first year under head coach Jim Harbaugh. Greg Roman is in as the new offensive coordinator, and Jesse Minter is heading the defense, setting the stage for a revamped team philosophy. The Lions, meanwhile, retained Dan Campbell but reshuffled the staff, promoting Kelvin Sheppard to defensive coordinator and bringing in John Morton as the new OC.
Detroit notably lost their offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson, to their in-division foes, the Chicago Bears. Johnson was seen as the mastermind behind the Lions spectacular offense and was one of the most highly sought-after coaches this past offseason. While their core remains intact with Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, there are questions about what the new identity of the offense will look like and if they can recreate their prolific 2024 offense.
One of the biggest stories heading into Thursday night is in the Chargers’ backfield. Starting running back Najee Harris is sidelined due to an eye injury sustained in a July 4th fireworks mishap. That opens the door for rookie first-round pick Omarion Hampton to handle a majority of the rushing duties in this opener. With starters expected to play sparingly, Hampton should get his chance to impress early and often, depending on whether the coaches allow him to play.
On the Detroit side, look for early glimpses of how Morton plans to structure the offense and how deep the running back depth goes behind Gibbs and Montgomery. Though most of the offensive starters will be watching from the sidelines, any reps for younger skill players are key in shaping Detroit’s depth chart heading into August, as they need to figure out what their offense will look like behind Morton.
With Najee Harris sidelined and the starters likely sitting out, all signs point to Omarion Hampton getting a decent workload. The rookie is hungry for reps and should be featured heavily early on, especially with Harbaugh looking to set the tone up front. Whether he racks up yards in a handful of drives or over an extended first-half appearance, Hampton has the burst and vision to clear 25 yards in his NFL debut.
Ian is a lifelong sports fan and Temple University graduate who specializes in the NFL, NBA, MLB and European Soccer and is a diehard Philly sports fan.