Saints' Self-Destruction Late in First Half Leads to Another Loss

The Saints fall to 2-5 on the season after self-destructing late in the first half.

GLENDALE -- It took the Saints three minutes against the Bengals to lose the game, and it took less than that to do it against the Cardinals on Thursday Night Football. With less than two and a half minutes to go in the second quarter, New Orleans saw their 14-6 lead turn into a 28-14 Cardinals lead, and it ended up being their undoing to lead to another loss on the year to sink them to 2-5.

Game Recap

New Orleans opened on offense after losing the coin toss. They didn't disappoint with their first drive, as it took just four plays to get into the end zone. Andy Dalton came out passing, hitting Juwan Johnson on the first play for a gain of 6, and then Alvin Kamara had a 17-yard gain on the ground for the next one. Just two plays later and after a Ryan Ramczyk false start penalty, Dalton found Rashid Shaheed on a 53-yard touchdown bomb to take an early 7-0 lead.

The Cardinals answered with a field goal on their first possession of the game, going 43 yards in 6 plays to cut it to 7-3 with 10:54 left in the opening quarter. The biggest play of the drive came when Kyler Murray moved out of the pocket and found Rondale Moore for a 31-yard gain. The Saints toughened up from there, as Alontae Taylor had a key rep against DeAndre Hopkins on a 3rd-and-5 deep shot. Rodrigo Blankenship connected from 50 yards to put them on the board.

The Saints offense kept it going, marching 65 yards in 15 plays, holding the ball for nearly 9 minutes. However, things ended in disaster after Andy Dalton was picked off in the end zone by Antonio Hamilton on a 3rd-and-8 from the 10. New Orleans was getting things done on the ground with Alvin Kamara, and also picked up some big conversions on the drive from Chris Olave. However, the poor decision by Dalton ended up not producing any points, as the Cardinals took over with 2:06 left in the quarter.

Arizona was able to put together a long drive of their own, going 70 yards in 9 plays. However, a costly offensive pass interference call on Rondale Moore forced them to settle on another Blankenship field goal, this time from 28. It was 7-6 Saints with 13:15 left until the half. The biggest and most concerning play came when Eno Benjamin took it 45 yards on a run. Pete Werner made a handful of plays on defense, including a 3-yard loss.

New Orleans countered with a drive of their own, getting a huge play by Kevin white on the drive. It was a 64-yard hookup on 3rd-and-2 that put the Saints inside the 10-yard-line. The 5-play, 75-yard drive was capped off by a 2-yard Dalton passing touchdown to Taysom Hill, and New Orleans took a 14-6 lead with 10:29 to play in the half.

The Cardinals kept it going, piecing together a 13-play, 75-yard drive that saw them hold the ball for over 8 minutes. They got into the end zone courtesy of a 2-yard Keontay Ingram run. The 2-point attempt was also good from Eno Benjamin, making it 14-14 with 2:28 left until halftime. New Orleans had a play where they missed four tackles, and had a David Onyemata sack get wiped out by a Justin Evans holding penalty. Arizona also converted a huge 4th Down play to set them up for goal-to-go.

Trying to operate in the two-minute offense, things started promising after a nice run by Alvin Kamara to start. The second play resulted in a Marco Wilson pick-six to get into the end zone after the pass intended to Marquez Callaway was tipped up in the air, where Wilson was was waiting and easily took it in. The extra point was missed, but the damage was done to make it 20-14 with 1:50 to go until halftime.

It wasn't long before the Saints went into self-destruct mode, as Andy Dalton was picked off again just a few plays into their drive. This time it was by Isaiah Simmons, who took it 56 yards to the house after the pass was intended to Chris Olave. The Cardinals got a 2-point attempt from Murray to Zach Ertz to make it 28-14 before the half. The Saints just kneeled out the clock on their next possession.

Second Half

Arizona looked to extend their lead after the Saints made it easy for them with less than three minutes to go. The Saints defense forced a three-and-out on the opening possession of the second half, with Chris Harris Jr. making two good plays on the drive. New Orleans was able to get a drive going that ended in points on their first possession, but only managed to get a 25-yard field goal from Wil Lutz after the drive stalled out. The big play of the 9-play, 54-yard drive saw Chris Olave get a 41-yard catch and run after getting a pass from Taysom Hill. It was 28-17 Cardinals with 9:44 left in the third quarter.

New Orleans once again got a big stop on the Cardinals, forcing another three-and-out. The Saints got a big sack on 3rd-and-14 after Arizona was backed up due to a false start. Cam Jordan and Carl Granderson split the sack, and the offense got the ball back with 8:05 left in the third. Unfortunately, they ran a three-and-out and punted back to Arizona.

The Cardinals ended up breaking their second half woes, piecing together another scoring drive, going 85 yards in 12 plays to get into the end zone after Murray hooked up with Greg Dortch for a 5-yard score. Big plays to Zach Ertz, DeAndre Hopkins, and Eno Benjamin on a 3rd-and-3 helped their scoring drive. It was 35-17 with 0:29 left in the quarter.

After trading three-and-outs, the Saints offense was able to get back into the end zone after going 46 yards in 5 plays. Andy Dalton found Juwan Johnson for a 17-yard touchdown reception to cut it to 35-24 with 11:14 to play in the game. The drive featured a lot of Alvin Kamara, but also a Tre'Quan Smith catch for a first down. The defensive series before saw Demario Davis sack Kyler Murray on a 3rd-and-9 with a good punt return from Rashid Shaheed to set up New Orleans in good field position.

Arizona countered, going 64 yards in 8 plays to get into the end zone once again after Eno Benjamin took it in from 5 yards out. The Saints trailed 42-24 with 6:22 to play, and the series for Arizona started with a nice kick return from Greg Dortch. A costly 15-yard face mask penalty on Cam Jordan mixed in with big plays to DeAndre Hopkins and Benjamin helped their drive.

New Orleans responded, cutting the lead to 42-31 after going 75 yards in 11 plays. Dalton found Juwan Johnson for another touchdown hookup, this time from a yard out. Tre'Quan Smith, Chris Olave, and Mark Ingram had the big plays on the drive, and Dalton ended up throwing his fourth touchdown pass of the night. The onside kick attempt failed, however.

The Cardinals were able to bleed some clock, but not much, as New Orleans used all their timeouts and got the ball back with just under three minutes to go. The Saints put together a drive and ended up cutting the lead to 42-34 after a 45-yard field goal, but the onside kick attempt failed and the Cardinals were able to run out the clock.

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