Saints vs. Texans: New Orleans Grades, Notes and Quotes

The New Orleans Saints took to the road for a Sunday afternoon clash against the Houston Texans, and coach Sean Payton’s squad was soundly defeated by a score of 24-6.

The 4-7 Saints, who enjoyed a bye in Week 11, returned to action Sunday with hopes of breathing new life into their season following two straight losses. Instead, Payton’s club turned in its worst offensive performance yet.

The Texans kept the vaunted New Orleans offense out of the end zone for the entirety of the contest.

Houston (6-5) typically doesn’t start fast, but the Texans jumped out to a two-score lead in the early going. Quarterback Brian Hoyer led the home team on a 70-yard touchdown drive to open the game, and the Texans followed that up with a 50-yard scoring drive on their second possession.

Down 14-0, New Orleans was unable to respond. Quarterback Drew Brees and the Saints offense were never able to fight their way back into it. They finished with just 262 yards of offense, and they never once reached the end zone.

New Orleans went three-and-out on its first two possessions and was forced to punt on its first three drives.

On the defensive side, new coordinator Dennis Allen's unit didn't exactly deliver a stellar performance, but the group played better than it has in recent weeks.

Penalties again compounded the Saints' difficulties—as they collected a total of 10 flags for 82 yards.

Down 14-6 at the half, the Saints were forced to punt on their first possession of the third quarter. As it turned out, Houston’s 80-yard scoring march on its initial third-quarter possession was all the Texans would need to clinch this one. Payton’s squad surprisingly went down without a fight.

Continue reading for a closer look at this Week 12 contest, complete with grades, notes and quotes.

Grades

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Quarterback: F

The usually productive New Orleans offense was nowhere to be found Sunday, and Brees played a big hand in the group’s lack of success.

The Saints signal caller was off his game from the get-go. He missed numerous makeable throws and tossed an interception near the Houston goal line to end a critical New Orleans drive in the fourth quarter.

There were certainly others who didn’t play well, but the Saints needed far more from their franchise signal-caller than what he delivered Sunday.

Wide Receiver/Tight End: D

Brees was undeniably bad, but he didn’t receive much help from his receiving corps.

Multiple Saints dropped passes and missed blocks, including top receiving target Benjamin Watson. The New Orleans tight end has enjoyed far better performances this season. Still, he managed to lead the Saints with 53 receiving yards on four catches.

Wideouts Willie Snead, Brandin Cooks and Marques Colston also got in on the action. However, no one stepped up and made any particularly big plays in the passing game.

Running Back: C-

The Saints fell behind two scores early on, but Payton’s hesitance to commit to the ground game was nonetheless surprising. New Orleans only had 10 carries in the contest.

Nine of them went to Mark Ingram, who was somewhat effective, finishing with 52 yards on the ground. He also played a major role in the passing game, leading the Saints with six catches.

Noticeably absent from the Saints offensive attack was a steady dose of running back C.J. Spiller. He only had one carry for -2 yards and two catches for eight yards.

Offensive Line: F

Coming into the game, containing Texans defensive end J.J. Watt was the primary objective for the New Orleans offensive line. It’s safe to say the group failed in this task. The All-Pro sacked Brees twice and rang up a whopping seven hits on the quarterback.

Watt lined up at various spots along the defensive line, but on most snaps, he was on the left side of the Texans front. He was matched up with Saints right tackle Zach Strief for the better part of the afternoon, and the results weren’t pretty for Strief.

New Orleans tried to shake things up by occasionally moving left tackle Terron Armstead to the right side, but Watt was still a mainstay in the Saints backfield. Watt was able to disrupt the New Orleans passing game with regularity.

Defensive Line: D

The New Orleans defensive line struggled at times on Sunday as the Texans offensive front controlled the line of scrimmage for a good portion of the game.

Houston rolled up 167 yards on the ground, and the Saints had an especially tough time slowing down running back Alfred Blue, who had 77 yards on the day.

New Orleans did get a sack from Cam Jordan, and Kevin Williams managed a few quarterback pressures, but all-in-all, this group was subpar on Sunday.

Linebacker: C-

As a group, the Saints linebackers were average—at best. Although rookie Stephone Anthony continues to develop into a solid “Mike” ‘backer. The first-round pick was highly active all game, and he finished with 10 tackles, including one for a loss.

Anthony now has 106 tackles this year, making him the first Saints rookie to tally 100 tackles in a season since Hall of Famer Rickey Jackson accomplished the feat back in 1981.

Ramon Humber and Michael Mauti each had their moments as well, but the fact that the Texans were able to seemingly run the ball at will falls at least partly at the feet of the New Orleans linebackers.

Defensive Back: C

While Watt was the focal point for the New Orleans offense, the Saints defense was tasked with slowing down Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.

New Orleans was apparently up to the challenge. Brandon Browner won numerous battles with Houston’s star wideout. Delvin Breaux also drew the assignment at times, and the Saints limited Hopkins to 36 yards on just five catches.

At safety, Kenny Vaccaro turned in a solid outing, while Jairus Byrd intercepted Hoyer in the second quarter to register his twenty-third career pick.

Special Teams: B+

The New Orleans special teams were solid Sunday. Return men C.J. Spiller (kickoffs) and Marcus Murphy (punts) both had nice runbacks.

The star of the Saints special teams, however, was kicker Kai Forbath. The former Washington Redskin, who joined the Saints in Week 6, turned heads Sunday when he nailed a 57-yard field goal. In fact, the 28-year-old Forbath, who’s the tenth kicker used by Sean Payton in his tenure in New Orleans, scored all the Saints points on Sunday.

Coaching: F

Many thought that the change at the defensive coordinator spot would result in some major changes to the Saints scheme. At first glance, that didn’t appear to be the case on Sunday. New Orleans went with many of the same basic looks it’s used throughout the year—albeit with some tweaks here and there.

After a bad start, Allen’s unit rebounded and picked up its play. The Saints ended up holding the Texans to 24 points, which would normally be well within striking distance of their offense.

On the other side, things were a mess, as the Saints sometimes looked as though they hadn’t even practiced since their last outing.

New Orleans was trailing by two touchdowns early on, but with just 10 rush attempts (at 5.0 yards per carry) compared with 44 pass attempts, it appeared as though Payton wasn't too concerned with achieving offensive balance in this one.

Notable Streaks End for Saints Offense

Eric Christian Smith/Associated Press

New Orleans had scored a touchdown in 155 consecutive games heading into the Week 12 contest, but that streak came to an abrupt end Sunday afternoon.

The last time the Saints were held out of the end zone was in December 2005, which was before Sean Payton and Drew Brees arrived in New Orleans.

As for reasons for the offense’s struggles Sunday, look no further than poor pass protection and quarterback play.

Sunday’s loss was the second game in a row in which the Saints offense struggled, as they only put up 14 points in a Week 10 loss to the Washington Redskins.

The sudden derailment of the Saints offense is a bit puzzling, but with Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers coming to New Orleans next Sunday, the Saints had best quickly rediscover their offensive rhythm.

Another streak that came to a close Sunday was Brees’ streak of 45 consecutive games with a touchdown pass. It was the fifth-longest such streak in NFL history, and it only trailed marks set by Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Johnny Unitas.

Of course, sitting atop that list is none other than Brees himself, who tossed a touchdown pass in 54 straight games from October 2009 through November 2012.

Marques Colston Snags Career Reception No. 700

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

In the second quarter of Sunday’s contest, Saints wide receiver Marques Colston hauled in an 11-yard reception, giving him 700 for his career.

The 32-year-old veteran has spent all 10 of his NFL seasons in New Orleans. The Saints drafted him out of Hostra in the seventh round in 2006.

He’s been a key component of Payton’s offense since his arrival, and he’s been one of Brees’ favorite targets for the past 10 years.

Following his three-catch, 38-yard performance against Houston, Colston now has 702 career catches, which is good enough for No. 44 on the all-time NFL receptions list.

Drew Brees, on New Orleans' Difficulties on Third Down

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The Saints moved the sticks on just three out of 12 third-down conversion attempts, which simply won’t get it done against a solid squad like Houston.

Following the game, Brees addressed this abysmal statistic, and he was quoted as follows on NewOrleansSaints.com:

"

 We talked about it coming into this game we needed to be really good on first and second down, very efficient on first and second down so that we were in third and manageable situations. You get in third and long against these guys, you are asking for trouble because obviously they dial up the pass rush - they’re a very good pass rush team, they have very good cover guys on the backend. It is just tough sledding when you do that. We did that and you see what the results were.

"

Brees is spot-on with his take on the Saints lack of success on early downs. The Saints needed more production on those downs, and they didn’t get it.

Would it have helped if New Orleans had more than 10 rushing attempts in the entire game?

Probably, but with the responsibility given to him as Payton’s field general, it’s also up to Brees to advance the ball down the field and move the chains.

He and the Saints offense didn’t get that done Sunday afternoon, and with just five games left, they're running out of time to get it fixed.