by CANTON, OH – The Chargers capitalized on early turnovers from the Lions, along with a strong performance from Trey Lance behind center to dominate Detroit for a 34-7 victory. Lance has no chance to unseat Justin Herbert as the Chargers full time starter, but made a strong case tonight to be the long term number #2 option. Lance went 13 of 20 to finish with 120 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was efficient, smart with the ball and made it count when he had too.
Also shining for Los Angeles tonight was a sharp defense and special teams unit that combined to turn the Lions over 3 times along with Cameron Dicker making 2 of 3 field goals. Dicker hit from 23 and 27 yards each in the second half to put the game out of reach. 3 of the Lions 4 total turnovers came in the first half, including one on the opening kickoff which set the tone for the rest of the night.
The Chargers capitalized on an opening kickoff fumble from the Lions. This allowed the Chargers to set up shop from the Lions 28-yard line. It took them 5 plays and 2:42 to connect on a fourth down conversation to score with a Lance to Dissley touchdown pass. It was a naked bootleg that faked the Lions defense into opening up for the 7-yard touchdown strike.
A little bit later in the first, the turnover bug bit the Lions again when Nico Reed picked off a Kyle Allen pass and took it all the way back to the Lions six-yard line, a 60-yard return. Two plays later a Kimani Vidal two-yard touchdown run increased the Chargers lead to 14-0 with 5:12 left to play in the first quarter.
The next time the Lions touched the ball, it was yet another turnover. This time a promising drive was cut short as a Kyle Allen pass was picked off in the endzone by Tony Jefferson. The Chargers were unable to capitalize on that one however and the game remained 14-0.
The Lions got off the snide midway through the second with a three yard touchdown drive from Reynolds. This followed a fourth down conversion and came with 5:31 left in the opening half. The drive consisted of 15 plays for 60 yards and soaked up nearly 10 minutes off the clock.
As good as it was for the Lions to cut into the lead, their rally didn’t last long as Trey Lance led the Chargers to their third scoring drive of the game. This time on a 15-yard touchdown pass to KeAndre Lambert-Smith to increase the lead to 21-7. It was Lances second touchdown pass of the game, handing the Chargers a two-score lead at the break.
As they often are in pre-season, the second half was much slower with a lot of 3rd and 4th stringers seeing action. The Lions were unable to put together any for of rally as the Chargers cruised to a 34-7 victory on the strength of two Cameron Dicker field goals along with Vidals second touchdown of the night.
