Yikes. The New Orleans Saints are really bad this year, but they caught a stray in this gnarly stat ripping an entirely different team: the Arizona Cardinals. Arizona fell to 4-9 on the season after a loss to the New England Patriots at home on Monday night, with franchise quarterback Kyler Murray leaving early due to a non-contact knee injury. It means they’ve won just a single home game at State Farm Stadium since Oct. 24, 2021 (when they drummed the Houston Texans by 31-5). The Cardinals are 1-12 in the span since that game.
Any guesses as to who lost to them in front of the birds’ home crowd?
Yeah, it’s the Saints. New Orleans traveled to Arizona for a Thursday night game earlier this season and lost 42-34, fueled by two defensive touchdowns scored off of Andy Dalton interceptions. The Cardinals ran all over what had been a vaunted Saints run defense, and Murray was allowed to complete 20 of his 29 pass attempts for 204 yards and a score. The Saints pass rush only sacked him twice.
So that’s frustrating. Every other team that’s traveled out to the desert has left Arizona with a win over the last year, but not Dennis Allen’s team. The Saints aren’t winning the games they should be closing out. They aren’t stealing many wins against better opponents, either. It’s been a massive fall from grace in the wake of twin departures for Drew Brees and Sean Payton. If things don’t improve for the Cardinals down the stretch, could Payton end up coaching their team in the not-so-distant future?
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