Saints Edge Texans, 34-27, in Battle of Playoff Contenders

New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham reaches for a pass over Houston Texans safety Danieal Manning (Photo: Parker Waters).

New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - Joseph Morgan caught a touchdown pass from Chase Daniel late in the fourth quarter to give the New Orleans Saints a 34-27 win over the Houston Texans in preseason play.

Drew Brees was 17-for-25 with 179 yards and two scores, while Lance Moore caught a score for the Saints, who improved to 2-2 in the preseason.

Matt Schaub passed for 194 yards and a score on 15-of-18 attempts, while Arian Foster ran for a score for the Texans, who fell to 2-1 on the preseason.

Houston tied the game just over four minutes into the fourth when Shayne Graham kicked a 53-yard field goal to make it 27-all.

New Orleans, though, answered with a 13-play, 75-yard drive that ate up over seven minutes of the clock and was capped on a four-yard catch in the end zone by Morgan from Daniel for a 34-27 lead.

Houston was unable to mount a successful counter drive before time ran out.

Each team scored a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter as a one-yard touchdown run from Ben Tate and 10-yard scoring catch by Keshawn Martine from Schaub staked Houston to a 14-0 lead.

New Orleans, though, struck quick as a 20-yard touchdown pass by Brees to Moore was quickly followed by another score as Trindon Holliday fumbled the kickoff and Junior Galette returned it 16 yards for the score.

A 22-yard field goal from Garrett Hartley 3 1/2 minutes into the second gave the Saints a 17-14 lead, but Foster answered with a six-yard score a bit later following a Saints fumble that Houston recovered at the New Orleans 10-yard line.

Randy Bullock hit a 33-yard field goal with just over two minutes to play in the first half to give Houston a 24-17 lead, but the Saints tied the game entering the locker room on an eight-yard TD catch by Graham from Brees.

Hartley's 24-yard field goal just under six minutes into the third accounted for the only points of the quarter as the Saints took a 27-24 lead into the final quarter.

NFL Boxscore - Houston at New Orleans

Team	1	2	3	4	Score
Houston	14	10	0	3	27
New Orleans	14	10	3	7	34

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter

Houston Touchdown - 1-yard run by Ben Tate. (Randy Bullock extra point is good). 11:03 Time Remaining. (8 plays, 80 yards. Time of Drive: 3:57).

Houston Touchdown - 10-yard pass from Matt Schaub to Keshawn Martin. (Randy Bullock extra point is good). 7:11 Time Remaining. (5 plays, 40 yards. Time of Drive: 3:01).

New Orleans Touchdown - 20-yard pass from Drew Brees to Lance Moore. (Garrett Hartley extra point is good). 4:03 Time Remaining. (6 plays, 65 yards. Time of Drive: 3:08).

New Orleans Touchdown - 16-yard fumble return by Junior Galette. (John Kasay extra point is good). 3:54 Time Remaining.

2nd Quarter

New Orleans Field Goal - 22-yarder by Garrett Hartley. 11:24 Time Remaining. (10 plays, 70 yards. Time of Drive: 3:40).

Houston Touchdown - 6-yard run by Arian Foster. (Randy Bullock extra point is good). 8:55 Time Remaining. (2 plays, 10 yards. Time of Drive: 0:40).

Houston Field Goal - 33-yarder by Randy Bullock. 2:08 Time Remaining. (8 plays, 64 yards. Time of Drive: 4:16).

New Orleans Touchdown - 8-yard pass from Drew Brees pass to Jimmy Graham. (Garrett Hartley extra point is good). 0:15 Time Remaining. (7 plays, 77 yards. Time of Drive: 1:53).

3rd Quarter

New Orleans Field Goal - 24-yarder by Garrett Hartley. 9:17 Time Remaining. (15 plays, 71 yards. Time of Drive: 5:43).

4th Quarter

Houston Field Goal - 53-yarder by Shayne Graham. 10:43 Time Remaining. (6 plays, 25 yards. Time of Drive: 2:39).

New Orleans Touchdown - 4-yard pass from Chase Daniel to Joe Morgan. (Garrett Hartley extra point is good). 3:38 Time Remaining. (13 plays, 75 yards. Time of Drive: 7:05).

Officials
Referee:	Umpire:
Line Judge:	Side Judge:
Head Linesman:	Back Judge:
Field Judge:
Attendance/Time
Attendance: 0	Time:

Final Team Statistics
Houston	New Orleans
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS	21	32
By Rushing	5	8
By Passing	13	16
By Penalty	3	8
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY	2-10-	7-14-
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY	2-2-	2-2-
TOTAL NET YARDS	0	0
Total Off. Plays (inc. times thrown passing)	0	0
Avg. gain per offensive play	0.0	0.0
NET YARDS RUSHING	0	0
Total Rushing Plays	0	0
Avg. gain per rushing play	0.0	0.0
NET YARDS PASSING	0	0
Times Thrown - yards lost attempting to pass	0-0	0-0
Gross yards passing	0	0
PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED	0-0-0	0-0-0
Avg. gain per pass play (inc. # thrown passing)	0.0	0.0
PUNTS Number and average	0-0.0	0-0.0
Net Punting Average	0.0	0.0
TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not including kickoffs)	0	0
No. and Yards Punt Returns	0-0	0-0
No. and Yards Kickoff Returns	0-0	0-0
No. and Yards Interception Returns	0-0	0-0
PENALTIES No. and Yards	5-74	8-53
FUMBLES No. and Lost	0-0	0-0
TOUCHDOWNS	0	0
Rushing	0	0
Passing	0	0
EXTRA POINTS Made-Attempts	0-0	0-0
FIELD GOALS Made-Attempts	0-0	0-0
SAFETIES	0	0
FINAL SCORE	0	0
TIME OF POSSESSION

Final Individual Statistics

Houston

New Orleans

RUSHING	ATT	YDS	AVG	LG	TD
A.Foster	8	32	4.0	18	1
J.Forsett	5	26	5.2	7	0
J.Grimes	3	16	5.3	10	0
B.Tate	4	10	2.5	8	1
K.Martin	1	0	0.0	0	0
M.Schaub	1	-1	-1.0	-1	0
Total	22	83	3.8	18	2

RUSHING	ATT	YDS	AVG	LG
C.Ivory	8	57	7.1	20
T.Cadet	5	20	4.0	8
J.Banyard	6	20	3.3	6
M.Ingram	6	19	3.2	8
C.Daniel	2	18	9.0	14
D.Brees	1	10	10.0	10
K.Hall	1	3	3.0	3
S.Canfield	1	-1	-1.0	-1
Total	30	146	4.9	20

PASSING	ATT	CP	YDS	SK/YD	TD	LG
M.Schaub	18	15	191	1/7	1	44
T.Yates	11	6	72	5/33	0	20
Total	29	21	263	6/40	1	44

PASSING	ATT	CP	YDS	SK/YD	TD	LG
D.Brees	25	17	183	0/0	2	29
C.Daniel	17	11	88	1/8	1	20
S.Canfield	2	1	2	0/0	0	2
Total	44	29	273	1/8	3	29

RECEIVING	ATT	YDS	AVG	LG	TD
G.Graham	4	97	24.3	44	0
J.Casey	3	23	7.7	15	0
A.Johnson	2	30	15.0	19	0
O.Daniels	2	26	13.0	16	0
J.Forsett	2	24	12.0	13	0
J.Grimes	2	18	9.0	12	0
K.Martin	2	10	5.0	10	1
L.Jean	1	18	18.0	18	0
B.Tate	1	9	9.0	9	0
J.Iglesias	1	8	8.0	8	0
A.Foster	1	0	0.0	0	0
Total	21	263	12.5	44	1

RECEIVING	ATT	YDS	AVG	LG	TD
P.Thomas	4	35	8.8	16	0
J.Morgan	4	33	8.3	20	1
J.Graham	3	48	16.0	29	1
L.Moore	3	38	12.7	20	1
T.Cadet	3	31	10.3	16	0
M.Colston	2	28	14.0	18	0
D.Henderson	2	21	10.5	14	0
M.Higgins	2	16	8.0	11	0
G.Camarillo	2	15	7.5	8	0
K.Hall	2	7	3.5	5	0
J.Collins	1	3	3.0	3	0
J.Banyard	1	-2	-2.0	-2	0
Total	29	273	9.4	29	3

INTERCEPTIONS	ATT	YDS	LG	TD
None
Total	0	0	0	0

INTERCEPTIONS	ATT	YDS	LG	TD
None
Total	0	0	0	0

PUNTING	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	IN20	LG
D.Jones	4	180	45.0	0	1	62
Total	4	180	45.0	0	1	62

PUNTING	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	IN20	LG
T.Morstead	3	104	34.7	0	1	40
Total	3	104	34.7	0	1	40

PUNT RETURNS	NO	FC	YDS	LG	TD
T.Holliday	1	0	0	0	0
Total	1	0	0	0	0

PUNT RETURNS	NO	FC	YDS	LG	TD
G.Camarillo	1	0	8	8	0
Total	1	0	8	8	0

KICKOFF RETURNS	NO	YDS	LG	TD
T.Holliday	2	85	62	1
D.Hunter	1	10	10	0
Total	3	95	62	1

KICKOFF RETURNS	NO	YDS	LG
T.Cadet	4	83	25
C.Roby	1	33	33
C.Parks	1	28	28
Total	6	144	33

KICKING	FG	PCT	LG	XP	PTS
R.Bullock	1/1	100.0	33	3/3	6
S.Graham	1/1	100.0	53	0/0	3
Total	2/2	100.0	53	3/3	9

KICKING	FG	PCT	LG	XP	PTS
G.Hartley	2/3	66.7	24	3/3	9
J.Kasay	0/0	0.0	0	1/1	1
Total	2/3	66.7	24	4/4	10

Houston
FUMBLES	FUM	LOST	OWN-REC	YDS	TD	FORCED	OPP-REC	YDS	TD
T.Holliday	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
K.Martin	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
T.Yates	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
D.Manning	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
G.Quin	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
S.Smith	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	5	3	2	0	0	0	2	0	0
New Orleans
FUMBLES	FUM	LOST	OWN-REC	YDS	TD	FORCED	OPP-REC	YDS	TD
C.Ivory	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J.Morgan	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J.Galette	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
W.Smith	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
S.Ellis	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Total	2	2	0	0	0	0	3	0	1

Final Defensive Statistics
Houston	TKL	AST	COM	SAC	YDS	IN	PD	FF	FR
J.Nading	5	0	5	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
T.Dobbins	4	1	5	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Q.Demps	4	0	4	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
K.Jackson	4	0	4	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
G.Quin	3	0	3	0.0	0.0	0	0	1	1
M.Alexander	3	0	3	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
J.Joseph	3	0	3	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
E.Pleasant	3	0	3	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
S.Loiseau	3	0	3	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
W.Mercilus	2	0	2	1.0	8.0	0	0	0	0
T.Nolan	2	0	2	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
M.King	2	0	2	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
R.Carmichael	2	0	2	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
A.Smith	2	0	2	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
S.Keo	2	0	2	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
B.McCain	2	0	2	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
J.Crick	1	1	2	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
C.Barwin	1	0	1	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
T.Jamison	1	0	1	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
B.James	1	0	1	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
H.Fangupo	1	0	1	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
O.Gaither	1	0	1	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
B.Reed	1	0	1	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
E.Mitchell	1	0	1	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Total	54	2	56	1.0	8.0	0	0	1	1
New Orleans	TKL	AST	COM	SAC	YDS	IN	PD	FF	FR
J.Casillas	3	0	3	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
D.Robinson	3	0	3	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
J.Patrick	3	0	3	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
C.Jordan	3	2	5	1.0	7.0	0	0	0	0
B.Ruud	3	0	3	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
K.Anderson	3	0	3	1.0	7.0	0	0	0	0
A.Hicks	2	0	2	1.0	8.0	0	0	0	0
C.Parks	2	0	2	1.0	7.0	0	0	0	0
M.Jenkins	2	2	4	0.0	0.0	0	0	1	0
P.Robinson	2	0	2	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
S.Shanle	2	0	2	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
J.Amaya	2	0	2	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
I.Abdul-Quddus	2	0	2	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
T.McBride	2	0	2	0.0	0.0	0	0	1	0
C.White	2	0	2	0.0	0.0	0	0	1	0
B.Bunkley	1	0	1	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
R.Harper	1	3	4	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
T.Walker	1	0	1	1.0	2.0	0	0	0	0
A.Daniels	1	0	1	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
W.Herring	0	1	1	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Total	40	8	48	5.0	31.0	0	0	3	0

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Saints Edge Texans, 34-27, in Battle of Playoff Contenders

Saints Team Information