It is the start of another great NFL season, though things do not seem that way down in New Orleans, where the Saints dropped their home opener to the Arizona Cardinals 20–13.
The game started slow, with both the Cardinals and Saints punting in their first drives. Arizona would open up the scoring with a 42-yard field goal to make the score 3–0.
The Saints, led by second-year quarterback Spencer Rattler, would reply back with a five-minute drive, and open the second quarter up with an 18-yard Alvin Kamara touchdown. That touchdown was the thousandth scrimmage touchdown scored in the Superdome by the Saints.
Kyler Murray and the Cardinals would reply with a touchdown drive of their own, ending with a touchdown pass to Marvin Harrison Jr., earning Arizona the lead once more 10–7.
New Orleans would tie the game 10–10 off the leg of Blake Grupe with a 36-yard field goal, but that lead would not last.
Arizona would score another touchdown before the end of the half, giving the Cardinals the lead 17–10 going into the half.
The second half would be far less interesting for viewers compared to the first half. Outside of a field goal from each side, there would be nothing but stalled-out drives ending in punts.
Arizona would extend their lead over the Saints to ten points, with a field goal on their first drive of the half. The Saints would reply with a missed 37-yard field goal from Grupe. The Cardinals would miss a field goal of their own midway through the fourth quarter.
New Orleans would quickly drive down the field, and Grupe up for a 28- yard field goal to cut the Cardinals’ lead to 20–13.
The defense would now have to clutch up and force the Cardinals’ offense off of the field, so the Saints could have a chance to score.
The Saints’ defense would hold the line, halting the drive entirely with an Alontae Taylor sack, forcing the Cardinals to punt it back to the Saints.
The game now came down to Rattler and the offense, and he was determined to get his first win in the NFL. Rattler drove the offense down the field, getting into the red zone with 13 seconds left.
There would be three chances for the Saints to score after Rattler spiked the ball to stop the clock. The first pass would be fired at Juwan Johnson, who was not able to haul it in short of the goal line.
Out of an empty backfield, Rattler would fire the ball in Johnson’s direction once again. The ball would hit the tight end right in the hands, but he was unable to keep possession. Rattler’s last attempt toward Chris Olave would also fall incomplete as time ran out.
This Saints team does not seem as bad as many experts and fans expected them to be going into the season. The team fought hard against a Cardinals’ team that will be competing for the NFC West title.
Spencer Rattler in his second season looked better with a healthier roster around him than he had in his starts last year with all the receivers and offensive line out.
First year head coach, Kellen Moore, dialed up plenty of passes to let Rattler show his arm talent. Rattler finished the game going 27/46 with 214 yards through the air. He added an additional 29 yards on the ground. Not an exciting first game, but much better than some of his performances from last season.
The bulk of those receptions went to Juwan Johnson, Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed. Johnson would finish the game with a team leading eight receptions for 76 yards and Olave would finish the game with seven catches for 54 yards. Shaheed would not be able to show off his speed, only getting 33 yards on six catches.
On the ground, the Saints did not do much. Kamara would finish the game with 45 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, while Kendre Miller would only see five touches, turning those into 24 yards.
Defensively, the Saints, under new coordinator Brandon Staley, would do a good job at holding the Cardinals passing game to only 163 yards. The defense even managed to hold a good Cardinals run defense for the most part.
Arizona’s leading rusher, Trey Benson, would finish with only 69 rushing yards, 52 of those yards coming from a single run. James Conner would be held to only 3.3 yards per carry and the defense did great clamping down on Kyler Murray, holding him to only 38 yards on the ground.
The Saints pass rush also came alive, finishing the game with five sacks on Murray. Cam Jordan and Carl Granderson would each finish with 1.5 sacks while Pete Werner and Alontae Taylor each had a sack of their own.
This week the Saints will travel to California to take on their second straight NFC West opponent in the San Francisco 49ers.