Week seven of the NFL season started with a high-scoring affair as the Arizona Cardinals beat the New Orleans Saints 42-34.
Arizona’s superstar wideout DeAndre Hopkins made a significant impact in his season debut, catching ten passes for 103 yards.
Deandre Hopkins in his return
10/103 (14 Targets) 👀
48.3% Target share 🔥
92.3% Snaps ✅
90.6% Routes run 👏Nuk is officially BACK
pic.twitter.com/m84v63qhJt— The League Winners (@FFLeagueWinners) October 21, 2022
However, the key to this Cardinals victory was the three interceptions by their defense and their running game, as backup running back Eno Benjamin ran 12 times for 92 yards and a touchdown in place of the injured James Conner.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL ✈️@isaiahsimmons25 x #BirdCityFootball pic.twitter.com/Et0TqMM4Vf
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) October 21, 2022
ENNNOOOOOOOOOO💨@EnoB x #BirdCityFootball pic.twitter.com/80u5ccZU4h
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) October 21, 2022
With Arizona establishing the run, they were able to open up the field more with quarterback Kyler Murray and the passing offense, and it proved to work out great for the team. Arizona’s run game has been lacking this year, especially compared to last season when they had the dynamic duo of Chase Edmonds and James Conner.
In the offseason, Edmonds would head to Miami, and the Cardinals decided to re-sign Conner; with Benjamin’s performance in this one, perhaps head coach Kliff Kingsbury could come up with a gameplan similar to last season’s where Edmonds was used as the every down back, and Conner was used for mostly goalline opportunities due to his size. Benjamin is similar in size to Edmonds, so there may be an opportunity to improve the running game by trying to create an excellent pairing in the backfield for the Cardinals.
On the defensive side of the ball for Arizona, they intercepted three of Saints quarterback Andy Dalton’s passes, including returning two for touchdowns. When your defense can score one touchdown, you are most likely going to win, but when they score multiple, it basically guarantees that your team will come out on top, and that was the case in this one.
As for the Saints, their offense came out firing by scoring on a deep touchdown pass from Dalton to open the game, but the offense started to struggle with the interceptions, and then towards the end of the fourth quarter, they once again picked it up, it was simply too late.
Something of note, an argument between Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray and head coach Kliff Kingsbury occurred during the game; when asked about it after the game, DeAndre Hopkins said the two are just very competitive and were frustrated at the moment.
Kyler: “Calm the f*** down” 😳
pic.twitter.com/U54uiXF2XO— PFF (@PFF) October 21, 2022
The Cardinals will look to move to 4-4 on the year they head to Minnesota in week eight to take on Justin Jefferson and the Vikings.
In week eight, the Saints will look to bounce back at home against Maxx Crosby and the Raiders.
Let us know what you think about the Cardinals win over the Saints by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sending us a tweet at @celebsecrets.
