The New Orleans Saints had all the momentum heading into the second half, but couldn’t translate it into points on the way to falling to the Arizona Cardinals 31-19.
The Cardinals got on the board first with Carson Palmer capping off a nine play drive with a 10 yard pass to John Brown.
The Saints responded with a 11-play drive but were only to be able to get three points off of a Zach Hocker 37-yard field goal.
The Cardinals increased their lead when Andre Ellington took it to the house from one yard out.
The Saints looked to be in trouble towards the end of the first half, but on a 4th and three as the Saints were set to punt, there were 12 players on the field for the Cardinals which gave the Saints drive new life. They capitalized on it with Drew Brees connecting with rookie Brandon Coleman on a 12-yard pass.
This looked to be a turning point in the game with the Cardinals being unable to respond at the end of the half due to bad clock management.
The Saints got the ball back to open the second half, but had to once again settle for a field goal from rookie Zach Hocker booting one through the uprights from 23 yards out to come within one point of the Cardinals.
The Saints continued to build momentum with a fumble that was recovered by New Orleans native Delvin Breaux, but was almost immediately given back to the Cardinals off of an interception by Rashad Johnson off of a pass intended for Marques Colston. The Cardinals were able to capitalize, getting Chandler Catanzaro to kick a 43-yarder through the uprights to increase their lead.
Hocker continued to impress in his first game in the NFL with a 45-yarder to cut away at the Cardinals lead. But Arizona kept the Saints at bay with a quick pass to Darren Fells from Palmer.
Hocker got the final score for the Saints with a 33-yarder to go four-for-four in his pro debut.
But the Cardinals put the final nail in the coffin with Palmer connecting with David Johnson for a 55-yard pass in the closing minutes for the score.
The Saints (0-1) will head to the Mercedes Benz Superdome to take on rookie Jameis Winston and the NFC South rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-1) on September 20th with kickoff set for 12 pm.
-Clint Domingue