The Detroit Lions shattered personal franchise marks in the destruction of the Minnesota Vikings 31-9 on Sunday night. The Lions seal home field advantage for the first time in team history. Their star tight end Sam LaPorta delivered his own historic milestone too.
The second-year TE now has 145 career catches in just two years, passing former Green Bay Packers star Keith Jackson (144) for that mark. LaPorta’s TE record got confirmed by the Lions’ PR team on X. LaPorta’s receptions also include his postseason totals of last year.
LaPorta grabbed seven passes on all seven of his targets inside Ford Field with both the NFC North title and No. 1 seed on the line. He tallied 63 receiving yards as the Lions produced their ninth game of surpassing 30 points or more. He torched the Vikings on this 17-yard catch, his longest of the evening.
LaPorta ends the regular season hauling in 60 receptions for 726 yards and scored seven touchdowns. He’s also experiencing the playoffs for the second time in his career already. But he’s not the first to hit that mark for the Lions.
The Lions aimed to end six-season playoff drought in drafting LaPorta. He’s since emerged as one of the league’s best young tight ends.
But along with shattering Jackson’s record, LaPorta joined one former Lions star in hitting this rare franchise playoff feat. He joins Johnnie Morton in becoming the first Lions offensive weapon to taste the postseason in his first two years of his career.
The former first round wide receiver selection out of USC went to the playoffs in the 1994 and 1995 seasons in the Motor City. Morton arrived to Detroit as the 21st overall pick in the ’94 draft. He managed to score one touchdown in limited duty his rookie year. That Lions team finished 9-7 overall before falling 16-12 to the rival Packers in the first round.
Morton then came back to lead a seven-game winning streak to close out 1995. He placed fourth in receptions at 44 and third in touchdown catches with eight. The Philadelphia Eagles blasted the Lions 58-37 in the NFC Wild Card round, however.
LaPorta is now the established sophomore NFL star on the Lions’ roster. Only this time, he’s leading the conference’s No. 1 overall seed into these playoffs. LaPorta and the Lions now get some time off before hosting the lowest remaining seed left in the NFC during the weekend of Jan. 18.
