The New Orleans Saints are traveling to Glendale to take on the struggling Arizona Cardinals for Week 7′ Thursday night game. It’s a must-win game for both teams as they try to stay afloat in the NFC playoff race.
The Saints lead the all-time series 16-15, so the Cards have a chance to even the score this week. New Orleans has won six of the last ten matchups, so it’s certainly been quite even in recent memory.
Of course, New Orleans got the better of the Cardinals in the 2010 divisional round, which would effectively send QB Kurt Warner into retirement and put the Cardinals in a three-year slump at quarterback.
Let’s dive into the last three matchups between these two teams.
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2019: Saints 31, Cardinals 9
This was a very difficult matchup for rookie quarterback Kyler Murray and a very young Cardinals team. Drew Brees and the Saints were red-hot and ended up finishing the regular season with 13 wins.
The game started out very competitive, with the Cardinals scoring two field goals and holding the Saints offense to 10 points. Patrick Peterson had an interception of Brees in the second quarter, while the Cardinals moved the ball a bit.
This game marked the first in the return for Brees, who had miss the previous five games with a thumb injury. Cardinals fans were hoping for backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, but were instead met with the future Hall-of-Famer, who cut them up for 371 passing yards and three touchdown passes.
Kyler Murray wasn’t bad on the day, but the Saints pass rush made it very difficult to operate. He finished with 220 passing yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.
The Cardinals were beat up defensively by wide receiver Michael Thomas, who had 11 receptions for 112 yards and a score. Running back Latavius Murray had a nice game 102 rushing yards.
2016: Saints 48, Cardinals 41
This was an extremely fun game in what was not a fun season. The 2016 Cardinals had very high expectations coming off a 13-3 season, but were eliminated from the playoffs by this point.
The Saints were similarly disappointing that year, but that didn’t stop Drew Brees and Carson Palmer from putting on a show for the fans. Brees threw for 389 passing yards and four touchdown passes, while Palmer had 318 and two TDs.
The Saints had a bad defense all season, but the Cardinals unit had been solid that season. It was surprising to see them give up so much. In particular, Brandin Cooks gashed the secondary with 186 receiving yards and two scores.
For the Cardinals, John Brown was the lead man on the day with 81 yards and a score. He should have had his second, but Palmer missed him by about an inch in the endzone.
This game also featured a 53-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Calais Campbell in what would be his last game as a member of the team. It was a memorable final moment for one of the franchise’s best.
2015: Cardinals 31, Saints 19
The hype for this 2015 team was sky-high, which the team delivered all season. This Cardinals team was stacked at every position and had lofty goals after being 9-1 the previous season.
Quarterback Carson Palmer was making his return after suffering an ACL tear that ultimately derailed the team’s season. It was a rather defensive battle for most of the game, but Palmer did look sharp with three touchdown passes on the day.
Brees kept his team in the game with 355 passing yards and one touchdown pass, but did have an interception off a tip and struggled against what was a very, very good Cardinal defense.
With just under two minutes to play, the Cardinals ran a rollout pass play to rookie running back David Johnson, who outran the entire New Orleans defense for 55 yards and the game-sealing score.
It was a sign of what was a magical season for the Cardinals.
