Saints vs. Lions: Drew Brees and Brandin Cooks shine in loss

The New Orleans Saints had a furious comeback after trailing 28-3 to the Detroit Lions, but fell short in the end 35-27.

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

Snap Count Leaders – Offense

Max Unger, Terron Armstead, Jahri Evans, Drew Brees – 80
Zach Strief – 78
Ben Watson – 73
Willie Snead – 72
Brandin Cooks – 69

Highest Grades – Offense

Drew Brees, QB (+4.8)
Brandin Cooks, WR (+3.7)
Zach Strief, RT (+2.0)
Max Unger, C (+1.7)
Tim Hightower, RB (+1.1, 33 snaps)

Lowest Grades – Offense

Andrus Peat, LG (-2.6, 31 snaps)
Ben Watson, TE (-1.7)
Michael Hoomanawanui, TE (-1.1, 19 snaps)

Snap Count Leaders – Defense

Cam Jordan, Stephone Anthony, Kenny Vaccaro, Jairus Byrd – 53
Delvin Breaux – 51
Brandon Browner – 48
Tyeler Davison – 43
Kyle Wilson – 40

Highest Grades – Defense

Kenny Vaccaro, S (+0.9)
Kyle Wilson, CB (+0.9)
Kasim Edebali, DE (+0.8, 26 snaps)

Lowest Grades – Defense

James Anderson, LB (-3.9, 13 snaps)
Stephone Anthony, LB (-2.0)
Kevin Williams, DT (-1.3, 28 snaps)

Other Stat Stories

• The Saints won the time of possession battle 30:24-29:36. The offense also won the first down battle 27-24.
• Dennis Allen’s defense gave up 7.8 yards per play after being on the field for a season low 53 snaps.
• The Saints offense finished 5-for-14 (35 percent) on 3rd down efficiency, and went 2-for-4 in the red zone.
• Final penalty count for the Saints: 6 penalties, 28 yards.
• Marques Colston and Drew Brees connected for their 72nd career touchdown. Brees also became the 4th player in NFL history to go over 60,000 yards. Brees also had his 94th career 300-yard game, which is the most in the NFL. He also eclipsed 4,000 yards passing for the 10th straight season, which is also a record.
• This was the first time the black and gold lost a game when they didn’t commit a turnover. They were 30-0 before last night’s loss.
• The Saints have now allowed opponents to score 49, 34, 38, and 35 points in their past 4 home games.
• Stephone Anthony‘s 6 tackle performance put him over the century mark for the year. His 101 tackles puts him in a group of 15 other Saints that have gone over the mark. Anthony is just the second Saints player to go over 100 tackles since 2000 (Curtis Lofton – 100 in 2014).
• Brandin Cooks needs just 7 yards against the Jacksonville Jaguars to go over 1,000 yards for the season. He had a career high 10 receptions for 124 yards, including a touchdown. Willie Snead needs 126 yards over the final two contests to also go over 1,000 yards for the season.
• Benjamin Watson needs just 3 yards to have a career high in receiving yards.

The Saints (5-9) now have their third losing season in the past four years, and have coincidentally dropped their third Monday Night Football contest in the past four games. They’ll return to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday to do battle with the Jacksonville Jaguars (5-9).