The New Orleans Saints dropped their first game of the season to the Arizona Cardinals in a heartbreaking loss. The Saints were able to rally back and make the game close, but weren’t able to get the ball in the endzone as time expired. While a disappointing loss, we learned a lot about who the 2025 Saints are.
Kai Kroeger was the right choice
The undisputed player of the game for the Saints was rookie punter Kai Kroeger. New Orleans brought Kroeger in as an undrafted free agent to battle for the starting job with Matthew Hayball,
and Kroeger came out victorious.
The Saints relied on the rookie punter’s legs plenty throughout the competition. Kroeger punted four times on the day, averaging 50.5 yards per punt with a long of 54. The rookie also pinned the Cardinals’ offense in their own red zone twice, with one punt forcing Arizona’s punt returner to run out of bounds at his own 6-yard line.
With a young offense in a new scheme, it’s likely the Saints will call on Kroeger a lot during the season. Despite the high expectation, the rookie punter more than rose to the occasion on Sunday, reinforcing New Orleans’ decision to start him over Hayball.
The defense has improved, but there’s still plenty of room for growth
It’s hard to look at the box score and envision the Saints not winning on Sunday. The defense held Arizona to just 295 yards of total offense and sacked quarterback Kyler Murray five times. While New Orleans didn’t force any turnovers, they did hold Murray in check through the air, limiting him to 130 yards.
But the box score doesn’t tell the full story. The defensive backs for the Saints struggled on third downs despite a strong showing from the pass rush. Third down was a nightmare for the black and gold, and they weren’t able to get off the field. Missed tackles were also a problem for the Saints’ defense.
The biggest surprise for the defense, however, was Cameron Jordan’s reemergence. The veteran defensive lineman saw an increased role after an injury late in the week sidelined Chase Young. Jordan has struggled over the last couple of seasons, but started 2025 hot, logging 3 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2 TFLs, and 1 pass defended.
With a brand new scheme in place, the defense was expected to struggle. While some problems will need to be addressed, it was a better showing for the Saints on the defensive side than some would have expected.
Spencer Rattler and Kellen Moore aren’t ready… yet
If there were a single stat that I could point to and use as my reason the Saints lost on Sunday, it would be the 46 pass attempts for Spencer Rattler. While Rattler isn’t a rookie and doesn’t need to be treated like one, it doesn’t feel like Kellen Moore put his quarterback in the best position to win.
The offense found success running the ball through multiple outlets. Alvin Kamara had a strong first half, and Kendre Miller was able to make some plays in his limited touches. But once the Saints went down 10-7, New Orleans went away from running the football. Despite averaging 4.4 yards a carry, the Saints ran the ball just 22 times, with four of those attempts from Rattler himself.
Kellen Moore is coming off a successful year, leading the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl win while steering Saquon Barkley to a 2,005 rushing yards season. Moore has emphasized his desire to run the ball with the Saints for many reasons, but most importantly, to help his young quarterback. Whether it’d be Rattler or rookie Tyler Shough, setting up a strong run game for a young signal caller will help them settle in. Fittingly, New Orleans had to take the “death by a 1,000 cuts” approach against Arizona as they kept everything in front of them. If the Saints were able to run the ball more effectively, the Cardinals would’ve had to address the run game, therefore opening up the deep ball.
This was Moore’s first time as a head coach, and he’ll get leeway for his mistakes. Other things, such as not using timeouts before halftime, the team’s outrageous 16 penalties, and showing first-game jitters, could all be fixed just a week from now. But if these problems linger throughout the 2025 season, then it’ll be time for a different conversation.
