If the Lions’ dream season ends in New Orleans in February, Sam LaPorta’s divisional round touchdown against the Commanders will go down as one of the top moments.
LaPorta made a ridiculous one-handed grab in the end zone to give the Lions the lead on Saturday night, sending Ford Field into a frenzy and putting Jared Goff on the board with his first touchdown pass of these playoffs.
The catch was LaPorta’s second career playoff touchdown, as he found the end zone in his playoff debut against the Rams last season.
Here’s the video of LaPorta’s catch and how Goff made it possible.
MORE COMMANDERS-LIONS:
Sam LaPorta one-handed touchdown
It initially looked like Goff’s best bet was to just throw the ball away as defenders closed in on him, but the veteran quarterback found the outstretched left arm of LaPorta, who took it from there.
LaPorta reached his arm out, slid for the ball, and never even needed to use his right arm to secure the ball against his body. The touchdown put the Lions back in front 14-10, though the Commanders would answer right back with not one, but two touchdowns.
This Goff to LaPorta connection 😱
📺: #WASvsDET on FOX
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/0ard9bHDPk— NFL (@NFL) January 19, 2025
Goff deserves plenty of credit, as well, even if his pass was nearly out of LaPorta’s reach. He threw the touchdown while in a defender’s grasp and starting to go down, much like Patrick Mahomes earlier in the day on a touchdown pass to Travis Kelce.Â
Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams each topped 1,000 yards in the regular season, while Jahmyr Gibbs totaled nearly 2,000 from scrimmage, but LaPorta was a consistent safety net for Goff. His catch on Saturday showed exactly why.Â
If the Lions are going to defend home turf against the upstart Commanders, they might need even more big plays out of LaPorta the rest of the way.Â
