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HOUSTON -- Andre Johnson was in midseason form, and the rest of Houstons young receiving group looked pretty good, too. Johnson had 131 yards receiving before halftime in his first extended work of the preseason Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. But New Orleans backups scored two touchdowns in the second half to help the Saints to a 31-23 victory. Johnson didnt play in the preseason opener and had less than a quarter of work last week. On Sunday, he grabbed seven of the eight passes thrown to him, highlighted by a 39-yard reception. "When we sit down and game plan I try to figure out ways to get Andre the ball," coach Gary Kubiak said. "Its a compliment to the other guys that Andres able to get the ball so much." The Texans dont have a lot of experience at receiver behind Johnson, an 11-year veteran. But Kubiak has been impressed by the development of Lestar Jean, who had 36 yards receiving Sunday, and Keshawn Martin, who finished with 10. The group is also expected to get a boost this season from first-round draft pick DeAndre Hopkins, who missed Sundays game after sustaining a concussion last week. "We just try to make the best of the opportunities," Johnson said. "We got a lot of opportunities in the first half of the game. I just did what I could." Quarterback Matt Schaub raved about the group and said he has "total confidence" in the young players. Schaub was 15 of 26 for 213 yards for Houston (2-1), and Ben Tate ran for 74 yards and a score filling in for Arian Foster. "He looked very good," Kubiak said of Tate. "Hes been our one healthy veteran back. I think Bens ready. I think hes going to have a really good year." Drew Brees was four of six for 104 yards and a touchdown for the Saints (3-0) before sitting down after the third possession. "I felt like we were just kind of hitting our stride when a couple of us got pulled," Brees said. With Marques Colston still sitting out with a left foot injury, rookie fifth-round pick Kenny Stills continued to impress with 54 yards receiving and a touchdown. "Im getting more comfortable and getting more used to being out there," Stills said. "Its about playing football and having fun, and thats really all it is." Backup Luke McCown came in with 8 minutes left in the second quarter. He finished with 118 yards and two touchdowns. Andy Tanner had 33 yards receiving with two touchdown receptions in the second half for New Orleans. Tate piled up 51 yards on Houstons second drive, with the highlight coming on a 39-yard run when he darted to the outside and cut back in for the big gain. He capped it with a 1-yard run that gave Houston a 7-0 lead. Schaub was sacked by Cameron Jordan when he manhandled Derek Newton on third down on Houstons next possession and the Texans settled for a 48-yard field goal from Randy Bullock. Johnson beat his coverage and was wide open for the 39-yard reception in the second quarter. Schaub was sacked after that and Houstons offence stalled before Bullock made it 13-7 with a 55-yard field goal. "We moved the heck out of the ball, weve just got to score more points and be better in the red zone," Kubiak said. The Saints couldnt get much going on offence in their first two drives. Willie Jefferson got his hands on Brees in the end zone on the third play of their first drive. But before he could bring him down, the quarterback got off a pass that fell incomplete. Martin returned the punt for a touchdown, but it was called back because of an illegal block by Brandon Harris. Brees was sacked by Jared Crick to force a punt and end the next drive. The Saints finally started clicking after that. Brees found Pierre Thomas on a short pass and linebacker Joe Mays was there to make the tackle, but Thomas wriggled free and dashed for a 51-yard touchdown dash to cut the lead to 10-7 early in the second quarter. The Saints got that drive going on another catch and run when Brees finessed a short floater to Mark Ingram which he turned into a 29-yard gain. McCowns first drive ended with a 51-yard field goal by Garrett Hartley that cut Houstons lead to 13-10. Stills grabbed a 40-yard pass over Kareem Jackson on third-and-6. Stills finished the drive four plays later when he beat Johnathan Joseph to get wide open on the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown reception to put New Orleans up 17-13. Harris was called for his second costly penalty of the game on a 40-yard pass interference call on the first play of the second half. New Orleans took advantage of the penalty when McCown found Tanner for an 8-yard touchdown strike to make it 24-16. T.J. Yates threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Alec Lemon to get Houston to 24-23 late in the third quarter. Tanners second touchdown grab pushed the Saints lead to 31-23 in the fourth. Houston played without defensive end Antonio Smith, who served the first game of a three-game suspension for hitting Miami guard Richie Incognito with the Dolphins players helmet last week. Smith ripped the helmet off Incognitos head, then hit Incognito on the shoulder with it Aug. 17. Fellow Houston defensive end and the 2012 defensive player of the year J.J. Watt also sat out for the Texans. Tate got another start despite Foster returning to practice this week for the first time since May after dealing with calf and back injuries. Kubiak has said that Foster could start in Houstons opener Sept. 9 without getting a preseason snap. NOTES: Houston tight end Garrett Graham injured his hip, but Kubiak said he should be OK. ... 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But the left winger, who has 17 goals and 37 points this season, was limited to about 10 minutes of ice time in each of the previous games. GERARDMER, France -- In a solo breakaway, Blel Kadri gave France its first stage winner at the Tour de France in the entree to the Vosges mountains on Saturday. Meanwhile, Vincent Nibali extended his lead over his biggest rivals except an important one: Two-time champion Alberto Contador. Over two minutes back, an attacking Contador duelled with Nibali to capture second place at the uphill finish of a rainy 161-kilometre (100-mile) ride from Tomblaine to Gerardmer La Mauselaine ski resort. Contador gained only seconds on Nibali, and was still 2 1/2 minutes behind him, but the threat was loud and clear. The overall standings changed after Stage 8, with mostly strong climbers at the top. Kadri, sensing his looming victory in the last kilometre, clasped hands in joy with a staffer of his AG2R Mondiale team, who was alongside him in a team car. He kissed his fingers to the crowd and smiled broadly at the line. "Today was my day, and Im really, really, really happy," he said after his maiden Tour stage win. "We work all year for good performances in this race. ... Today it paid off." Kadri emerged from a five-man breakaway that chiselled out a lead of as many as 11 minutes. None of the breakaway riders threatened Nibalis yellow jersey: The highest-placed among them started the stage nearly 26 1/2 minutes back. Contador attacked as he and Nibali passed under the red flag marking one kilometre to go. But the Italian couldnt be shaken -- hewing right on the Spaniards back wheel except for Contadors final surge at the line. "Im not explosive, but I held my own," Nibali said. "I tried to respond as best I could to his attack ... he moved a lot, I really wanted to stick close to him ... in the last 100 metres he accelerated a lot." The ride featured three mid-grade climbs in the first of three days in the mid-sized Vosges range near the German border. 90. Chrristian Meier of Langley, B.ddddddddddddC., was 90th, finishing in a peloton that clocked in at 4:7:19. Svein Tuft, also from Langley, was in the same group, finishing the stage 110th. Meier is 143rd in the overall standings, while Tuft is 146th. American Andrew Talansky had trouble and lost time in the title chase to other contenders. In the final ascent, he skidded off the wet road and fumbled -- with help from a fan -- to repair what seemed to be a problem with his bike. A race medical report said he had multiple contusions. Talansky, the Garmin-Sharp team leader, finished more than two minutes behind Nibali and Contador, and trailed the leader by 4 minutes, 22 seconds in 16th place overall. He started the ride in eighth, 2:05 down. Overall, Nibali led Astana teammate Jakob Fuglsang of Denmark in second by 1 minute, 44 seconds. Australias Richie Porte of Team Sky, who finished fourth on Saturday, was 1:58 back in third. Spains Alejandro Valverde was fifth, 2:27 adrift, and Contador was sixth, 2:34 behind. The breakaway five chiselled out their maximum lead with about 50 kilometres (30 miles) left, and the pack began to accelerate. With around 25 kilometres left, the lead dwindled to 4 1/2 minutes. Frances Sylvain Chavanel pressed the pace among the five in front, then Kadri overtook him, pedalling alone up the final climb. There were fewer crashes than in recent days. Before the stage, Swiss rider Mathias Frank, the leader of the IAM Cycling team, withdraw because of broken left femur in a crash on Friday. Frank, who was runner-up in the Tour de Suisse last month, underwent surgery in Geneva on Saturday. The toughest ride in the Vosges will come on Monday when cyclists face seven ascents, including an uphill finish to the storied ski resort La Planche des Belles Filles. The pack faces six ascents on Sunday with a 170-kilometre (106-mile) ride from Gerardmer to Mulhouse. ' ' '