O-no, now Saints have a new problem

METAIRIE, La. -- Firing defensive coordinator Rob Ryan on Nov. 16 seemed to make a little difference in the New Orleans Saints' first game back from a bye Sunday, but coach Sean Payton now has another problem.

Instead of defense being an issue, the Saints' usually reliable offense was the culprit on Sunday in a lackluster performance that produced a 24-6 loss to the Houston Texans.

The letdown by the offense, so rare as it is, was a major factor in a third consecutive loss for the Saints (4-7) and pretty much ended their hopes of at least being in the playoff picture going into final month of the season.

The Saints' offense didn't help itself, and it certainly didn't help its defense, which was under the direction of Dennis Allen for the first time since Ryan was dismissed in the wake of an embarrassing 47-14 setback to the Washington Redskins on Nov. 15.

"It was tough film to watch," Payton said Monday. "You start looking at the third-down numbers and the distance you're operating in gives you a pretty good idea of either your efficiency or inefficiency on first and second down."

It was especially bad early, when Houston scored on its first two possessions for a 14-0 lead, and the Saints had only 17 yards on their first four series.

On those drives, New Orleans needed nine, 14, 12 and 23 yards to convert.

"I thought offensively, we hurt our defense," Payton said. "They were on the field too long."

Quarterback Drew Brees had one of the least productive games of his 10-year career with the team in a 24-6 loss to the Texans.

In addition to hitting only 25-of-44 of his passes for 228 yards with a red-zone interception, Brees had a string of 45 consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass snapped in the ugly setback.

It was his first shutout personally since a November 2012 game with the Atlanta Falcons. He also was sacked twice by defensive end J.J. Watt, harassed constantly as he finished with a passer rating of 61.6.

That wasn't the only streak the Texans snapped on Sunday.

When the Saints failed to put a touchdown on the scoreboard, it marked the first time in 156 games that they didn't reach the end zone in any way.

Their streak of 155 consecutive games was the second-longest in NFL history.

The last time the Saints did not have a touchdown was in a 13-12 loss to the Detroit Lions on Dec. 24, 2005 -- the year before Sean Payton and Brees arrived.

--Linebacker David Hawthorne (thigh) missed his second consecutive game Sunday against the Houston Texans and his return is unknown.

--Weakside linebacker Dannell Ellerbe (hip) was sidelined for a fourth game in a row and it is not known if he will be back Sunday against Carolina.

--Cornerback Damian Swann (concussion) was held out of a third consecutive game Sunday, and his availability for this week's game is not known.

{b: REPORT CARD VS. TEXANS}

PASSING OFFENSE: D -- The Saints had a second straight bad outing, a rarity under Payton and Brees, in Sunday's game against the Texans. It wasn't a surprise because of the fact that the Texans have one of the best pass defenses in the league, but the Saints still struggled mightily, as Brees was only 25-of-44 for 228 yards with no touchdowns and one interception, while being heavily pressured all day. Brees, who had a passer rating of 61.6, was sacked twice by defensive end J.J. Watt. Running back Mark Ingram had a team-high six receptions for 45 yards, while wide receivers Brandin Cooks, Willie Snead and Marques Colston combined for only 12 catches for 128 yards. Brees had only two passes of 20 yards or more -- a 26-yarder to tight end Benjamin Watson and a 24-yarder to Snead. The Texans also snapped Brees' streak of having at least one touchdown pass in 45 consecutive games.

RUSHING OFFENSE: D -- The only thing you can say about the Saints' running game was that it had balance against the stingy Texans. The Saints rushed for 25 yards on five carries in the first half and added 25 yards on five attempts in the second half to finish with 50 yards on 10 tries for a 5.0 average. Ingram had 52 yards on nine carries with a long of 29, while C.J. Spiller, who had the only other carry, had a minus-2 for his efforts.

PASS DEFENSE: C -- For one of the few times this season, the Saints weren't simply target practice for an opposing quarterback. Well, Brian Hoyer did hit on 21-of-27 passes and two touchdowns with only interception, but the Texans had only 205 passing yards -- which was encouraging to a defense that was allowing better than 300 yards a game going into the contest. The Saints held wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to only 36 yards on five catches with a long catch of 13, which was good, but tight end Ryan Griffin caught four balls for 72 yards with a long of 37 yards, and had a 10-yard touchdown grab. Wideout Nate Washington also had a 32-yard gain among three catches for 43 yards. Saints free safety Jairus Byrd had the only interception off Hoyer.

RUN DEFENSE: D -- After the Texans extended a 14-6 halftime lead with 10 more points by the 6:05 mark of the third quarter, they gave the Saints a steady run diet. The Saints still had a difficult time stopping the run even though they knew what was coming, and the Texans finished with 167 yards and a 4.4 average on 38 carries. Alfred Blue pounded the Saints for 77 yards and a 4.8 average on 16 carries and one touchdown, while the Texans had four other players with at least 20 yards. Akeem Hunt had the team's long gain of 17 yards.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A-plus -- The Saints get a high grade even though they were only average in kick returns and kick coverage. Kai Forbath had the only points of the game for the Saints on field goals of 30 and 57 yards, the latter being a career-long by seven yards, and Thomas Morstead was steady in punting six times, averaging 46.8 gross yards and 41.7 net yards per kick. He also had two punts inside the 20 and a long of 53. Marcus Murphy had a 12-yard punt return, but Spiller averaged only 20.0 yards on two kickoff returns. On the other hand, the Saints allowed the Texans to average 7.8 yards on four punt returns and 26.0 yards on two kickoffs.

COACHING: C -- While his defense played better after giving up touchdowns on the Texans' first two possessions and allowed just 10 points the final three quarters, Payton wasn't pleased with the offensive output of 268 yards and no touchdowns. Payton pointed the finger at himself on Monday, questioning his play-calling after the Saints made only 3-of-12 third-down conversions and averaged a scant 4.7 yards per pass play.