New Orleans Saints look to hand Panthers first loss, despite struggles by Andrew Schuster

You can’t exactly place blame on the defense for the New Orleans Saints 24-6 one-sided loss to the Houston Texans. Not like anyone would suspect anything differently, but the grades were fairly ugly.

Here’s a look at the Saints snap count leaders and grades from Sunday’s game against the Texans, as per Pro Football Focus.

Snap Count Leaders – Offense

Max Unger, Terron Armstead, Andrus Peat, Jahri Evans, Zach Strief, Drew Brees – 60

Brandin Cooks, Ben Watson – 53

Mark Ingram – 46

Willie Snead – 45

Marques Colston – 44

Highest Grades – Offense

Willie Snead, WR (+0.8)

Terron Armstead, LT (+0.5)

Michael Hoomanawanui, TE (+0.3, 15 snaps)

Lowest Grades – Offense

Andrus Peat, LG (-5.9)

Ben Watson, TE (-3.7)

Drew Brees, QB (-3.1)

Zach Strief, RT (-1.2)

Jahri Evans, RG (-1.1)

Snap Count Leaders – Defense

Stephone Anthony, Kenny Vaccaro, Jairus Byrd – 73

Delvin Breaux – 72

Brandon Browner – 70

Cam Jordan – 66

John Jenkins – 52

Highest Grades – Defense

Kenny Vaccaro, S (+2.7)

Cam Jordan, DE (+1.6)

Michael Mauti, LB (+1.0, 29 snaps)

Lowest Grades – Defense

John Jenkins, DT (-3.5)

Hau’oli Kikaha, LB (-2.8, 39 snaps)

Brandon Browner, CB (-1.8)

Other Stat Stories

The black and gold held the ball for only 23:37 , while the Texans dominated with 36:23 . The Saints offense, as you’d imagine, lost the first down battle 23-14 .

, while the Texans dominated with . The Saints offense, as you’d imagine, lost the first down battle . Dennis Allen’s defensive debut gave up 362 total net yards of offense, and the Texans averaged 5.5 yard per play.

The Saints offense finished 3-for-12 ( 25 percent ) on 3rd down efficiency.

) on 3rd down efficiency. Final penalty count for the Saints: 10 penalties, 82 yards . The Saints are tied for 3rd most penalties in the NFL with 92, according to NFL penalties

The Saints lost a 155-game touchdown streak, which will go down as the second longest in NFL history.

Drew Brees lost his consecutive passing touchdown streak of 45 straight games, which coincidently came three years to the date (11/29/12) when he last lost the streak against the Atlanta Falcons.

lost his consecutive passing touchdown streak of 45 straight games, which coincidently came three years to the date (11/29/12) when he last lost the streak against the Atlanta Falcons. C.J. Spiller appeared in only 12 snaps for the Saints on Sunday. Spiller has now 154 snaps through 10 games (15 per game average), which is exactly what you want from a player who you shelled out $16 million and gave $5 million up front.

The Saints (4-7) have completely disappointed this season, and now have to worry about hosting the red-hot Carolina Panthers (11-0) at the Superdome. This one could get very ugly, and the Panthers can clinch a playoff spot and a third straight NFC South divisional title. Mathematically, the Saints are still alive in the playoff hunt, but it’s going to take something miraculous for this team to get there.