Cardinals survive mistake-filled season opener in 20-13 win over Saints

Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

GLENDALE – The sky was falling for the Arizona Cardinals in its season opener against the New Orleans Saints. Arizona held a seven-point lead with just over 100 seconds left in the game. New Orleans quarterback Spencer Rattler was striving down the field abusing the underneath routes to give his team a chance to tie the game.

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13 seconds remained, second down on the Cardinals 18-yard-line. Rattler finds wide receiver Juwan Jennings in the seams and he catches in the air, but All-Pro safety Budda Baker didn’t give up. Baker lead with his helmet to hit the ball out of Jennings hands to jumble the ball and force the incompletion.

Arizona escaped with the 20-13 win, thanks to Baker and the entire defensive performance.

The Arizona secondary led by Baker, cornerback Max Melton and rookie Will Johnson shined in Sunday’s season opener. The trio held Rattler to 214 passing yards for 27-of-46 passing, much of the 2nd-year quarterback’s deep ball were contested by the prowess of Melton and Johnson.

Quarterback Kyler Murray battled an illness, which led to an disappointing debut for the offense. Murray threw for 163 yards and two touchdowns, with Marvin Harrison Jr. and Trey McBride combining for 132 of those yards. The run game continued to look great, as the one-two punch of Trey Benson and James Conner remain a steady force for head coach Jonathan Gannon.

While not pretty, with nine penalties, a miss field goal and plenty of miscues, the Cardinals survive the season opener by a touchdown and end the Saints season opener winning streak at six.

Not pretty first half from Cardinals:

After a three-and-out to start the game for both teams, the Saints and Cardinals would score on five straight offense drives. However, the method to these scoring drives wouldn’t be pretty. The two sides combined for 12 penalties for 84 yards.

Arizona in its second drive had a third and manageable situation inside New Orleans redzone, but a delay of game penalty backed up the offense and led to the team being forced to kick the field goal.

The defense struggled early to play clean football. Rookie cornerback Will Johnson recorded his first career interception, but it was nullified after a hands to the face penalty on Max Melton gifted Rattler another opportunity. The Saints took advantage with an 18-yard touchdown run by Alvin Kamara to take the 7-3 lead.

The upset was brewing early. Murray was able to battle through the initial struggles via his sickness, by relying on former fourth overall pick Marvin Harrison Jr. in the air attack. The two-time Pro Bowler went deep on a 45-yard dot on a go-route for Harrison, that eventually to a two-yard touchdown to the second-year pro.

New Orleans was responding well, with Rattler leading the way. The Saints were driving deep into Cardinals territory, when Josh Sweat and Garrett Williams made a massive third down tackle inside the redzone to force the field goal. Arizona struggled to be the aggressor and finish through tackling, but the Sweat-Williams tackle was a huge momentum swing.

Cardinals one the final offensive drive of the half was surgical. Murray and the offense faced two 3rd-and-long situations but was able to withstand the New Orleans defense by relying on Trey McBride. The Pro Bowl tight end had two third down catches for 37 yards to bring his first half total to 56 yards.

Less than 30 seconds remained in the half when Arizona had a 2nd-and-goal opportunity, where Murray shoveled pass to running back James Conner for the touchdown and the 17-10 lead.

Cardinals’ defense find form after halftime:

Linebacker Baron Browning started the second half with a monster sack, the team’s first of season. Browning’s sack set the tone for Arizona, as the next offensive possession saw backup running back Trey Benson explode for a 52-yard run into New Orleans territory.

Benson and Conner claimed to be pair of RB1s ahead of the season and both have lived up to it, combining for 108 yards in Sunday’s game. The Cardinals only finished with a Chad Ryland 50-yard field goal, but it was just the beginning of the defense’s second half dominance.

Saints converted on multiple third downs in its second offensive drive, but similar to last year’s defense, the Cardinals bend but didn’t break. On 3rd-and-4, Rattler looked for Rashid Shaheed in the endzone, but Johnson with the lockdown defense swatted the ball away to force the fourth down. The stop forced New Orleans to kick the field goal and miss, which continue to sway the momentum on Arizona’s side.

Murray began to look like his old self, maneuvering in the pocket, avoiding pressure and ripping the ball to his targets. Early in the 4th quarter, the Cardinals were inside their own five-yard line on a third down and had their backs against the wall. However, Murray stayed strong in the pocket to rip a pass to Harrison for the first down.

Despite the drive not ending in a score, Arizona was able to drag the ball near midfield and pin New Orleans near their own 20-yard-line. While the offense couldn’t execute in the second half, the defense seemed to honed in against the Saints, especially Johnson.

The rookie cornerback looked sensational in his debut. With less than 10 minutes to go in the game, Johnson read the New Orleans WR screen all the way and delivered a clean, hammer hit on Olave. The hit knocked Olave out for the rest of the drive, which only lasted one more play because of the lockdown defense by linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. down the middle.

The Cardinals defense was rolling, while the offense was stalling. Multiple holding penalties in the second half derailed almost all of Arizona’s offensive drives. Murray did a stellar job of evading pressure, but his change of direction did lead to confusion from the offensive lineman and getting caught tugging the opposing jerseys.

The miscues bled into special teams, as Ryland had an opportunity to bring the lead to 13-points but had his 46-yard field goal blocked and gifted Saints great starting fielding position under five minutes to go.

Despite giving up chunk plays, the Cardinals defense held up in the redzone. The Saints had three plays inside the five-yard line and failed to find the endzone in all of them, forcing head coach Kellen Moore to take the three points to make it a one possession game.

Cardinals offense remained a zero, immediately going on a three and out, meaning the Saints had an opportunity to tie the game with two minutes remaining. Rattler remained sensational in short throw opportunities, but once he went deep it was trouble. As Baker made the heads up play with 13 seconds remaining to knock the ball out of the endzone and win the game for Cardinals 20-13.

Kyler Murray added to Cardinals injury report with illness, will play vs. Saints

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Reporter Tanner Tortorella covers general assignment for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @TannerTSports