If one thing is apparent from the New Orleans Saints' wipeout of the Houston Texans Saturday night, it's that Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson are still going to need to be the Phoenix Suns of the NFL, a team that wears out foes with its offense.

This is one preseason game that was actually arguably even worse than the 38-20 final score, considering that the Texans played their starters much longer than the Saints played their first teamers and still wobbled into halftime trailing 28-10. Unfortunately, no NFL team gets to face Matt Leinart every week.

The Texans' defense isn't as bad as it showed in the Superdome against the defending Super Bowl champs' second string, but it's not nearly as good as the stats from the last few months of the 2009 season say either. Gary Kubiak's team is still very offense dependent. Which makes what the coach is doing with Andre Johnson even more baffling.

Forget Reggie Bush running through the Texans' defense like he was trying to shed Kim Kardashian all over again. Forget the 52-yard field goal that Neil Rackers knocked in off the upright, and the way Kris Brown actually responded to the pressure by hitting a 43-yarder later. The most striking scene from this game was Andre Johnson getting up gingerly after a mid second-quarter hit from the Saints superstar killer Tracy Porter.

It's a sight that begged the question: Why is Kubiak playing the best receiver in the NFL — this is what the Texans themselves tout Johnson as at every opportunity — that far into a preseason game?

It doesn't matter that Johnson appears to be all right, the mere fact that he's exposed to such risk is near lunacy. Is Kubiak trying to make Johnson earn that big new contract in the games that don't count?

What is the best receiver in the NFL going to learn in the second quarter of a preseason game? Does Kubiak really believe that Schaub and Johnson need to work on their timing? Johnson caught 101 passes for 1,569 yards and nine touchdowns last season, racked up 115 receptions for another 1,500-plus yards and eight touchdowns in 2008 (being noticeably more dangerous in the games Schaub played in '08). This duo is good.

They don't need to be treated like they're two-bit actors getting auditioned by James Cameron.

Let Schaub work on his connection with Jacoby Jones and Kevin Water if Kubiak must (though you can also argue that Schaub should have been gone just as quickly as Drew Brees was in this game), just keep Andre on the sideline.

When you've already proven you're one of the top players in the league at your position, you don't need to be exposed to preseason punishment.

Even Wayne Fontes — one of the most ridiculed coaches in NFL history — knew enough to not play Barry Sanders more than a few preseason snaps in Barry's prime. The Cowboys took the same approach with Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin.

Yes, the NFL's shifted toward playing stars more in the preseason in recent years, but that doesn't make Kubiak's choice to put the Texans' entire season on the line by throwing Johnson needlessly into harm's way any more intelligent.

Is this a little thing? Maybe — until Johnson gets hurt. But it's one of the many little things that put Kubiak's grasp of big picture coaching into question.