The Los Angeles Chargers and Detroit Lions officially kicked off the 2025 NFL campaign with the annual Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. Considering it's still early in training camp, backups and young players soaked up most of the opportunities in the season's first preseason contest. One performance stood out for the wrong reasons, which the Pittsburgh Steelers' offseason inactivity effectively forecasted.
Veteran quarterback Kyle Allen, formerly of the Steelers, drew the start in his Lions debut against the Chargers. He exited after the first half before getting replaced by Hendon Hooker, but it was already too late; by then, his damage was already done. With Detroit taking a 21-7 deficit to the locker room, Pittsburgh fans were reminded why the 29-year-old is no longer donning black and gold.
Lions QB Kyle Allen shows exactly why Steelers didn't re-sign him in Hall of Fame Game vs. Chargers
It was a rough day at the office for Allen, to say the least. His 9-of-14 completed passes went for 91 scoreless yards and two interceptions, "adding" five rushing yards on two carries. If there are any silver linings to the forgetful showing, it's that he didn't take any sacks and was somehow much better than Hooker.
Albeit a generally meaningless exhibition, the Lions struggled mightily to generate any momentum or sustain drives in their 34-7 defeat to the Chargers. Allen was under center for Detroit's only touchdown, but his first pick led to an endzone trip on Los Angeles' ensuing possession. In other words, the 29-year-old nullified the lone high point of the night with a costly mistake.
Despite having signal-caller troubles of their own in 2024, Allen attempted a single pass for the Steelers in 2024. He couldn't get in the good graces of Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, even as the team was searching for offensive answers. Nonetheless, the franchise's longtime leader ostensibly determined that the journeyman and career clipboard holder wasn't the solution under any circumstances besides injury. The Lions are quickly coming to this realization through trial and error.
Allen's efforts and Hooker's even worse outing help the former as he competes for the No. 2 position on Detroit's depth chart behind Jared Goff. But moments like this are why the Steelers chose to look elsewhere to find Aaron Rodgers' understudy. The margin for error is slim to stave off the latter and make the Lions' 53-man roster.