NEW ORLEANS, La.—Sixteen minutes into the regular season, the Arizona Cardinals found themselves trailing the New Orleans Saints 7-3. The Cardinals’ offense was struggling, having recorded only 41 total net yards in the first quarter. The club needed a spark, and second-year wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. delivered.
Push to Start
Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray connected with Maserati Marv along the sidelines for 45 yards.
The explosive pass play flipped the field, and Marvin Harrison Jr. found the endzone six plays later.
On the Cardinals’ next possession, the offense executed a 10-play, 71-yard scoring drive, ending in a 4-yard shovel pass to running back James Conner. Arizona took a 17-10 lead into halftime.
Cardiac Cards
The Cardinals’ offense fell out of rhythm in the second half. Kyler Murray completed 9 of 13 passes for 38 yards. The running game outside of a 52-yard run by Trey Benson was nonexistent.
The Arizona Cardinals let the New Orleans Saints hang around, which is always a recipe for disaster. Momentum shifted with 4:40 left in the 4th quarter. The Cardinals were leading 20-10 and aimed to make it a 13-point game. However, Chad Ryland‘s 46-yard field goal attempt was blocked by defensive tackle Bryan Bresee.
The Saints offense took over on their own 36-yard line, and QB Spencer Rattler drove down the field to make it a one-score game with 2:42 remaining.
With all three timeouts in hand, the Saints decided to kick the ball off. It was the correct decision. On the opposing drive, Arizona couldn’t muster up anything on offense, gaining six yards in two plays. On 3rd & 4 with an opportunity to put the game on ice, Kyler Murray was sacked, forcing the Cardinals to punt the ball away with 2:00 remaining.
The Saints’ offense took over on their own 31-yard line and were able to dink and dunk their way to the Cardinals’ 18-yard line. With 00:14 seconds to play, Rattler took three shots to the end zone—the closest call being a seam pass to TE Juwan Johnson. It was a beautiful throw from Rattler. He placed the ball only where the 6-foot-4 tight end could come up with it.
Johnson high-pointed the ball in the end zone, but safety Budda Baker came across the middle of the field like a missile and broke up the completion—a remarkable play by the Cardinals captain.
Any Given Sunday
The Arizona Cardinals were six-and-a-half-point favorites and were expected by many to steamroll the New Orleans Saints in Week 1. But this is the National Football League, and winning at the highest level is difficult.
“Week 1 in the NFL, there’s a lot of unknowns,” Cardinals Head Coach Jonathan Gannon said. “And I’m most pleased that we came out 1-0,”
–Follow Dan Loya on X @DLoya_NFL
