The Saints played not to lose. Bruce Arians and the Cardinals called their game aggressively to win, and were rewarded with a 31-19 victory over New Orleans. Here's what we learned:
- One late sequence showed the difference between these two organizations of late. Instead of asking Drew Brees to pick up six yards with under two minutes to go, coach Sean Payton called for a silly punt. This was a bad idea in any circumstance, especially with the Saints' defense struggling to get stops.
Bruce Arians, on the other hand, coaches aggressively even with the lead. He risked stopping the clock by calling a pass on second down on the team's ensuing drive. Rookie running back David Johnson delivered, taking his first NFL touch 55 yards for a game-sealing touchdown.
- Palmer looked very sharp, rifling in some difficult passes into tight windows. His protection held up despite a lot of turnover in the preseason, although that likely had a lot to do with a poor Saints pass rush.
- The Cardinals could be without running back Andre Ellington once again. He left the game in the third quarter with a knee injury, and didn't return. Chris Johnson took all the carries after Ellington left the game, with Johnson helping on passing downs. Arians indicated after the game that Ellington potentially had a PCL injury.
- Mark Ingram showed off his maturation as a receiver in the preseason, and that carried over Sunday. He caught eight passes for 98 yards, while only running for 24 yards. The Saints' offensive line was often overwhelmed against Arizona, especially in the running game.
- One bright side for the beleaguered Saints defense: rookie linebackers Stephone Anthony and Hau'oli Kikaha both showed up with solid efforts.
- Who says the Cardinals don't throw to tight ends? Darren Fells exposed David Hawthorne in coverage to the tune of 82 yards, the most any Cardinals tight end had since 1989.
- Honey Badger is all the way back. Tyrann Mathieu was all over the field with eight tackles, three passes defensed and a tackle for loss.