Finally, a Thursday Night game worth watching. On the back two Pick 6’s in the second quarter, the Arizona Cardinals and their defense stopped their early season slump by dominating the woeful New Orleans Saints 42-34.
At long last, there was finally a Thursday Night Football game that was worth paying $14.99/month to watch. Despite being pretty lousy teams this season, the Saints and the Cardinals put on a fantastic show as they battled it out in the desert to combine for 76 points.
Has there even been that many points scored in the seven weeks Thursday Night Football has been on Amazon? Probably not.
Anyway, I think we can all agree now that the New Orleans Saints need to blow this thing up. Not only has their offense fallen apart since Drew Brees and Sean Payton retired, but also their defense now looks slow, old, and injury riddled. In fact, this whole team seems to be made out of glass.
Coming into this game, Marshon Lattimore, Michael Thomas, Jarvis Landry, Andrus Peat, Mark Ingram, Marcus Maye, Adam Trautman, Payton Turner, Andy Dalton, and Jameis Winston all were listed on the Saints injury report prior to the game, with Lattimore, Landry, Peat, Thomas, and Trautman not taking part.
That’s a huge part of the offense and defense (especially Landry, Thomas, and Ingram on offense) either playing through injury or not being able to even suit up against the Cardinals.
Now, injuries are an everyday occurrence for a sport as physical as football, but this has been an issue with the Saints for years. It’s the reason why Drew Brees had to retire, along with age finally catching up with him, and it’s the reason why Michael Thomas has been a ghost for the past two seasons.
I mean, at one point in time, the Brees-Thomas connection was the best QB-WR duo in the league, while the Saints offense would consistently rack up 6000+ yard seasons. I’d go as far and say that they were the best offense in the NFL during the late 2010’s through 2020.
And even though Andy Dalton and Jameis Winston are capable NFL backups, they’re nowhere near the level needed for a franchise to compete for a Super Bowl. Last night’s game proved it.
After just getting scored on through a Keaontay Ingram TD run to tie the game at 14 with under 5 minutes to go in the first half, Andy Dalton (30/47, 361 yards, 4 TD, 3 INT) inexplicably threw TWO Pick 6’s to not only toss away any chance the Saints had of winning, but also make this game the embarrassing blowout that it ended up becoming.
In the blink of an eye, the Saints went from being tied 14-14 to being down 28-14 as Isiah Simmons and Marco Wilson punished the former Bengals QB for six, respectively. I’ll give Dalton a break on the Wilson pick as his receiver just flat out bobbled the ball in the middle of the field, but that Simmons one was unacceptable.
You can’t just fling a wobbly, inaccurate pass across midfield on a 3rd and 10 and not expect it to be returned back for a TD.
There’s a reason why Dalton has reverted into the backup we see today, and that’s one of them.
As for his counterpart, Kyler Murray (20/29, 204 yards, 1 TD) silenced his critics for a while as he had a decent day with the return of his #1 target, De’Andre Hopkins.
Coming back from his 6-week suspension, Hopkins looked like he hadn’t missed a beat as he caught half of all of Murray’s completed passes to finish the game with 10 REC for 110 yards. Say what you want about Kyler Murray and this offense under Kliff Kingsbury, but you can’t criticize any of their struggles on Hopkins.
That man is a machine.
Another player who was also really impressive was the Cardinals running back Eno Benjamin. He was fantastic out there last night as his agility and speed were way too much for the slow interior lineman of the Saints to handle as he finished with 12 CAR, 92 yards, and a TD that sealed the game at 42-31.
Nonetheless, with the Cardinals now rising to 3-4, they still have an outside shot at making the playoffs this season due to the simple fact that they play in the NFC West. Surprisingly, that division has been one of the worst ones in all of football as all four teams have at least 3 losses, with the division leading 49ers only on top with 3 wins.
As for the Saints, their season is over. They’re now 2-5, three games behind the NFC South leading Buccaneers, and are well out of the Wild Card race. Like I said, this team desperately needs to be blown up and rebuilt, or else Saints fans will be forced to watch this mediocrity for years to come.
Images Source: Featured Image:
