Sam LaPorta knows how it looks and sounds, especially "when you turn on the TV copy and the commentators are going, 'Oh, ya know, they just push 'em five yards off the ball and Montgomery and Gibbs make it look so easy.’"
"It’s definitely not easy," LaPorta said. "They’re paying the other guys, too."
The Lions are playing video games on offense. They lead the NFL in points per game by more than a field goal. Last week, six different players scored offensive touchdowns, spread evenly among their running backs, receivers and tight ends. Their quarterback is on the greatest five-game stretch the league has ever seen. Their coordinator is the best in the business.
"Detailed execution, great play calls, guys coming up big, making explosive plays and playing for each other," LaPorta said. "Playing selfless football."
The selflessness might be the most important ingredient. While the numbers are gaudy for the team -- and for Jared Goff -- they're relatively modest for each individual player. LaPorta, in particular, has seen his production take a hit after his Pro Bowl rookie season. He was held under three catches once in 20 games last year, playoffs included. It's already happened four times this year. He never got fewer than three targets in a game last year. It's happened three times this year.
Last week was more in line with last season, as LaPorta caught six passes for 48 yards and a touchdown in the Lions' rout of the Titans. Still, it's hard to ignore that his personal statistics are down -- even for LaPorta, who hears a about it from fantasy owners. Does he notice? Does he care?
"I see 52 points on the board and 47 before that and 40-something a couple weeks before that and I don’t really pay a whole lot of attention to it," LaPorta said. "I usually come off the field and know, like, yeah, I had four, five catches today, maybe 50 yards. Past that, I don’t really remember what I did against Minnesota, I can't even remember who we played before that. We’re just focused on what’s ahead of us."
LaPorta had one of the greatest seasons ever for a rookie tight end, setting a record with 86 catches. He also paced his position with 10 touchdowns, and finished fifth with 889 yards. Helped that he got seven targets per game.
With Goff distributing the ball to a wealth of weapons this season, LaPorta's targets have been sliced in half (3.2 per game). That ranks 25th among tight ends. Wouldn't you know it, he ranks 25th in catches. He's 14th in yards. To the frustrated fantasy owners, "I’m doing as much as I can for this offense," LaPorta said, "and if I help your fantasy team in the process, that’s great."
Entering this season, LaPorta said he wanted to improve in the blocking department: "I’m trying to throw my hands, play a little bit lower in the run game." In the first quarter last Sunday against the Titans, the score tied at seven, LaPorta came across the line and erased linebacker Jack Gibbens to help open a huge hole for Jahmyr Gibbs, who raced 70 yards to the end zone.
"Our tight end position has really, really helped our run game," Lions running backs coach Scottie Montgomery said Wednesday.
"I’m trying to add as much value as I can," said LaPorta. "I’m out there a lot run blocking. We appreciate Scottie and those running backs, they’re amazing, and we try to do as much as we can for them blocking."
LaPorta later got his, catching a perfectly-thrown touchdown pass by David Montgomery, of all people, as Ben Johnson reached back into the bag of trick plays. Johnson's bag, said LaPorta, "is big as he wants it to be."
"I think he’s the most creative mind I’ve ever been around playing football," LaPorta said. "It’s hard to put a price tag or value on it, to be honest with you. He always says that nobody corrects better than us and nobody overcomes things better than us."
Over the last five games, the Lions have scored more offensive touchdowns (24) than Goff has thrown incompletions (19). Montgomery and Amon-Ra St. Brown have thrown touchdowns. Goff has caught one. Left tackle Taylor Decker came close to catching one against the Cowboys in the same game that right tackle Penei Sewell nearly scored on a hook-and-ladder and LaPorta scored on a double-reverse flea-flicker.
"I’ve never dropped back and thrown a pass -- yet, maybe, we’ll see, with how many times we’ve incorporated trick plays -- but the incompletion to touchdown thing is just an absurd statistic to me," LaPorta said when asked about Goff. "He's playing at a really high level right now, and all the power to him. I think he’s one of the best in the league to do it. I don’t know if he gets enough praise, but he should."
The Packers are next. The Lions will try to make it five games in a row scoring 30-plus points. They're averaging 33.4 on the season, most since the 2018 Chiefs. With an MVP-caliber quarterback, an embarrassment of riches around him and an elite offensive line, there's really nothing Detroit can't do.
"Teams are pulling out all the stops that they can," LaPorta said. "They’re giving us different looks. We see stuff on tape and then sometimes it’s not what we see in the game. We practice one look and then get something else, maybe that’s their curveball they’re throwing to us."
With Johnson calling the shots, the Lions will keep swinging for the fences.