Late in the first half of the Lions' dreary tie to the Steelers, T.J. Hockenson got his first target of the game. He wouldn't get another until overtime, which would be wiped out by a holding call, which would wipe out an interception by Jared Goff. In an offense desperate for more pass catchers, the best pass catcher finished with one target, zero receptions, zero yards.
Should we be concerned here? It was disappointing at the very least.
"No, I wouldn’t be disappointed," Dan Campbell said Tuesday on the Stoney & Jansen Show. "We tried to get him the ball a number of times. Some of those (calls) had kills in them. They’re giving us the run look so we kill it. But some of those, man, it didn’t work out."
Hockenson played all but four snaps on offense. He ran 25 receiving routes and got one whole pass from Goff. Not that this is entirely on the QB. Detroit's pass protection was poor. The weather and game script called for a run-heavy offense. Still, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Kalif Raymond and D'Andre Swift each got six targets. Backup tight end Brock Wright, who was added to the active roster last week, got two.
The Pro Bowler who leads the Lions in receiving got one. (He never got fewer than three in 16 games last year.) Not that the Pro Bowler is blameless himself. Hockenson would tell you he can do a better job getting open. And when he is open, Campbell would tell you the Lions need to find him.
"We miss a blitzer in protection and we’re trying to get him the ball. He’s wide open, well, we can’t do that," said Campbell. "(On another), Goff drops back, he’s looking at 'Lif, he comes back across the board and Hockenson’s open and he just misses him. It was almost bad luck.
"And then early in the game we kind of had him on a sell, he gets doubled by both linebackers, Swift is wide open in the flat and we miss on that. It was a combination of the throw and the spot to be at. But no, I wouldn’t lose sight of that."
This was supposed to be a big season for Hockenson, the next step in his progression as an elite tight end. It was also going to be the season in which he drew the most defensive attention of his career. So far, only the latter has held up.
Not that it's been a bad season for Hockenson. He's tied for second among tight ends with 48 catches and he's seventh with 49.8 yards per game. But it hasn't been the breakthrough many expected given his role in Detroit's offense. Hockenson averaged 45.2 yards per game last year on fewer targets.
And then there's this: Hockenson has struggled as a blocker. Which is not something he takes lightly. "I didn’t come into this league to be a one-dimensional tight end," he said at the start of this season. He didn't look like one last season when he blocked well in the run game.
But this season, Hockenson has a run blocking grade of 51.4, per Pro Football Focus. That ranks 36th out of 40 qualifying tight ends. He also committed a holding penalty on a screen pass to St. Brown in overtime Sunday that cost the Lions and kicker Ryan Santoso the 10 yards they needed to win the game.
"He does need to be better in the run game," Campbell said. "But he did some things there to help us, too. You rush for 229 yards, everybody’s got a hand in that."
And everybody's got a hand in this. Campbell, who said he plans to call plays again this Sunday, has to find more ways to get Hockenson open. He's had three games this season with three or fewer targets and two or fewer catches, which is three too many for the team's best receiver and three more than he had all of last season. And Hockenson has to find more ways to get open on his own. And then Goff needs to get him the ball, or the Lions need to find someone who can.
It can still be a breakthrough season for the third-year tight end. He can still close the gap on elite. But the race is on, and Hockenson is right where he started.