The New Orleans Saints built up some momentum in the second quarter of Sunday’s regular season opener, but it left the building before halftime and the Saints didn't have to finish off a rally in a 20-13 defeat to the Arizona Cardinals.
Saints QB Spencer Rattler threw 49 passes in the game, but his final two attempts came up shy with the Saints needing a touchdown to tie the game in the final seconds. The penultimate throw was a jump ball that appeared to be caught by Juwan Johnson but a Cardinals defender stripped the ball at the last moment. rattler finished the game 27-46 (58.7%) for 214 yards and no touchdowns or turnovers.
The loss ends the Saints' run of six consecutive season-opening victories, which marked the longest active streak in the NFL.
Arizona had the Saints on their heels with repeated conversions on 3rd downs, including conversions on multiple situations of 3rd and 10 or longer. Kyler Murray passed for 151 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for another 33 yards and Arizona won the time of possession battle by more than 7 minutes.
Still, the Saints outgained the Cardinals 315 to 276 yards, in part because of the frequent need to make up penalty yardage. The Saints drew an astounding 13 penalties on the day for 89 yards, something that will surely be addressed and emphasized in the upcoming week.
The Saints did find traction in the run game with Alvin Kamara, Kendre Miller, Devin Neal and Rattler combining to gain 107 yards on 22 carries (4.8 yards per carry). The Saints also had to play a majority of the second half with newcomer Asim Richards, with RT Taliese Fuaga out with a knee issue. Chris Olave also battled ankle and chest injuries but finished the game.
Both teams punted on their opening possession, with Saints DE Cam Jordan notching his first sack of the season for an 11-yard loss. The all-time Saints sack leader was a constant presence in the backfield and also deflected a ball.
Arizona's next possession was an 11-play, 42-yard drive that took, five-and-a-half minutes and ended with a 42-yard field goal by Chad Ryland.
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The Saints offense found its rhythm on a second drive that spanned 10 plays and 90 yards and was capped off by an 18-yard Alvin Kamara touchdown run. They had to overcome two illegal shift penalties that threatened to kill the momentum. The touchdown was the 1,000th touchdown in Superdome history and gave the Saints a 7-3 lead.
Arizona took advantage of untimely Saints penalties on the next drive to set up a one-yard touchdown pass from Murray to Marvin Harrison Jr. The Saints would tie the game on a 36-yard Blake Grupe field goal.
The Cardinals struck back with a 4-yard James Conner TD on a shovel pass. The Saints opted not to call any timeouts and took the game into the half trailing 17-10.
The Saints defense bent but failed to break in the second half, giving up only a field goal in the third quarter and blocking another field goal attempt in the fourth quarter. However, the Saints offense only reached Arizona territory twice. The Saints did have a 14-play drive end in a 37-yard field goal attempt that Blake Grupe missed to the right, a moment that took much of the air out of the stadium ahead of a late-game rally.
The Saints defense gave the Black-and-Gold offense one final opportunity to tie the game thanks to an Alontae Taylor sack of Murray just before the two-minute warning. Rashid Shaheed's punt return after the sack gave the Saints possession just shy of midfield. Rattler led the Saints to the Arizona 19-yard line, but that's as far as the Saints would get.
Sunday’s loss also brings the Saints all-time record in gold jerseys to 0-2 and their record in black helmets to 0-5.
The Saints are back at home in the Superdome next week when they host the San Francisco 49ers. Kickoff is set for noon on WWL.