Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh had high praise for the Detroit Lions after Los Angeles trounced the team 34-7 in the NFL Hall of Fame game to kick off the 2025 NFL season
22:21 ET, 04 Aug 2025Updated 22:27 ET, 04 Aug 2025
Jim Harbaugh had a two-word verdict on the Detroit Lions
Jim Harbaugh had high praise for the Detroit Lions after the Los Angeles Chargers’ 34-7 win during the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio, summing them up in just two words: “Deep team.”
The Lions looked like a shell of themselves in the drubbing, feeling the effects on both sides of the ball after offensive coordinator Ben Johnson was hired by the Chicago Bears and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn taking his talents to New York to head up the Jets.
Despite the fact that Detroit was all out of sorts against Los Angeles, Harbaugh still found time to express his appreciation for the Lions and what they brought to the table. Speaking to reporters after the win, the 61-year-old praised the firepower Detroit possessed heading into the season.
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“Yeah, number one objective, really wanted to come out of it healthy and thought we did that,” he began. “Two, I wanted to play good, wanted us to play good, thought we did that. And three, third objective to win. We did that.
“Been feeling like we’ve got a lot of ascending players that have been ascending in practice and just couldn’t wait to see them playing the real game and I could go through a bunch of the names. … I mean, just felt like we were getting better at every position group. And, you know, that depth was good, it showed tonight.
“And nothing but respect for the Lions. I mean, the Lions are, they’re a deep team. Nothing but respect. [Lions head coach] Dan Campbell, I mean, the job he’s done is tremendous. And we were fortunate to get some great turnovers.”
Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh had two words to describe te Detroit Lions this season(Image: Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
On the other side, Campbell explained how his team needed to be aware of the game and the importance of each down, with everyone from the coaches to the players understanding that point.
“The message is, man, when you get an opportunity to make your plays, you got to make your plays, but you got to do it within the system,” he told reporters after the loss. “You got to do it with the fundamentals you’ve been taught and play your rules, make sure you play your responsibility, and now you got one on tape.
“We got to clean this up. We have to get significantly better, you know. We got to coach them better, and they got to play better next week. They got to practice better, and then I got to play better next week. I got to coach better, so I want to give these guys a chance to play better, and so we will, and that really is the message right now.”
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In the loss to the Chargers, the Lions had five turnovers, which was something Campbell noted after the game. In particular, the Lions head coach noted that if players can’t control and take care of the ball, it is difficult to see them succeeding at the top level.
“Look, we have our own standards, and it doesn’t matter if you just walked in the door or you’ve only practiced – you’ve had gym practices,” he continued. “It’s just, look, we got to take care of the football, and it doesn’t matter.
“You’re wearing Lions gear. You got to take care of the ball, man, or it’s going to be hard to keep you around, and so it’s a hard lesson to be learned out here like that, but it’s also, we got to put a little pressure.
“We got to apply a little pressure in a good way, in a good way so we get better, man. We got to put some urgency on this. It is early, but it’s also, it’s never too early to get better, right?”