By the Numbers: Examining Saints' 40-32 loss to Redskins

A by-the-numbers look at the Saints’ 40-32 loss to the Redskins on Sunday:

1: The number of combined catches for the Saints’ No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 wide receivers, which explains why Adrian Arrington was in the locker room Monday morning after being cut Saturday. Interim coach Aaron Kromer said the team would decide whether to re-sign him shortly. Devery Henderson made the lone reception on a slant in the third quarter and was knocked out of the game with a blow to the head. Joe Morgan was targeted twice and came up empty, including a deep ball he could have caught in the end zone. Courtney Roby did not play. For a team that set a slew of NFL offensive records last year, the Saints are awfully thin on proven wideouts. Marques Colston, Lance Moore and Henderson are the only WRs who caught a pass last year.

2: The number of third downs New Orleans converted out of 11 chances. Last year, the Saints converted 56.7 percent of their third downs, the highest percentage for any team since at least 1991, when the NFL began keeping tabs on it. Penalties and poor play put the offense in awful positions. In order, the Saints had third-and-10, third-and-20, third-and-10, third-and-4, third-and-2, third-and-20, third-and-1, third-and-3, third-and-26, third-and-10, third-and-2. Interestingly, the Redskins were only 4-of-15 on third downs. If the Saints had not forced them to settle for four field goals, the outcome would have been worse.

4: The number of receptions for Colston, a low number considering Drew Brees targeted him a team-high 11 times. Colston did not practice much last week with a sore foot, and he appeared to have a miscommunication with Brees on the first play of the game. He fumbled one of his four catches out the back of the end zone for a touchback after being stripped at the Washington 5.

6: The number of years it had been since Brees last completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes in a game. He went 24 of 52 (46.2 percent) against the Redskins, including three three-and-outs when he threw three straight incompletions. This, from a guy who set the NFL record for completion percentage (71.2) a year ago. The last time Brees had finished under 50 percent as a Saint was at the New York Giants on Dec. 24, 2006, when he went 13 of 32. Brees’ lowest percentage in the Superdome had been 53.3 against Baltimore in 2006.

10: The number of running plays the Saints had against Washington. Playing from behind contributed to the imbalance, but the Saints passed 10 times and ran only three times in the first quarter. Pierre Thomas had four attempts for 17 yards. Mark Ingram carried six times for 15 yards. Darren Sproles, who averaged 6.9 yards an attempt last season, had zero carries. Kromer insisted before the game the Saints were doing everything the same way they had under suspended coach Sean Payton. Unfortunately, criticism for abandoning the run was the only similarity to Payton, who was accused – unfairly – of the same thing when the Saints lost in the past.

24: The number of penalties the replacement refs calls. The Saints can’t cry about an unfair whistle because each team was flagged 12 times, and Washington actually was penalized for more yards (127-107). But regular refs probably would have kept the hanky in their pockets more often.

55.6: The number of yards Thomas Morstead averaged on five punts. He was a lone bright spot for the Saints in a poor opening effort across the board.

Follow Saints reporter Guerry Smith on Twitter @CBSSaints.