Offensively, the Detroit Lions are hitting their stride as the season wraps up. Ahead of a critical contest against the Minnesota Vikings, it's clear that side of the ball will again play a determining factor this week.
Detroit has weapons to rely on at running back and wide receiver, but tight end Sam LaPorta is often lost in the shuffle. Quietly, he has still enjoyed a great season impacting the game and could figure in as the major x-factor to shift fortunes toward the Lions.
In spite of LaPorta's overall stats being down, he is still making plenty of big plays for the Detroit offense. Khaled Elsayed of Pro Football Focus highlighted that in his observation for the Lions after Week 17.
"Of all tight ends this year, Sam LaPorta has the most catches on balls thrown at least 20 yards in the air with seven."
The league is full of impactful tight ends, so for LaPorta to have hold of this stat is telling. It shows that the Lions could rely on him to sneak down the field and make some deep plays to open up the passing game against the Vikings with the focus on others.
Even with Jameson Williams, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs lurking, LaPorta is a threat the Vikings will have to account for. If the Lions get him going with chunk plays, he will flip the game on his own.
Sam LaPorta is surging at the right time for Lions' offense
While LaPorta's final numbers this season will fall short of what he was able to accomplish in his rookie season, he has rebounded from earlier injury and inconsistency to make a major impact on the Detroit offense.
After that slow start, LaPorta found his stride during the most important part of the season. Since Thanksgiving Day against the Chicago Bears (five games), LaPorta has 25 receptions for 278 yards and four touchdowns. That effort has helped the Lions' offense become even more dangerous at a critical point.
This week, LaPorta comes in riding a two-game touchdown streak, In the first meeting against Minnesota, he was unusually quiet with just one catch for 25 yards. It's fair to assume that LaPorta will easily be able to eclipse that total this week.
So far this year, no tight end has been better at getting loose for big plays. If the Lions get another big effort from LaPorta down the field, it can help them enjoy a more comfortable win over the Vikings.