Arizona Cardinals get marched on by New Orleans Saints 31-7

Sep 22, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) celebrates after a touchdown run against the Arizona Cardinals during the fourth quarter of a game at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Today was not the Arizona Cardinals day and they ran into a buzz saw in the New Orleans Saints. The Saints defeated the Cardinals this afternoon 31-7 and it seemed like Arizona Cardinals would be competitive today after scoring on their first drive on an Alfonso Smith rushing touchdown.

But the Drew Brees show began and he dominated the Cardinals’ defense. Brees threw for 342 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. The Cardinals’ defense had trouble today defending the Saints wide receivers, more specifically tight end Jimmy Graham. Graham had nine receptions for 134 yards and two touchdowns. The Cardinals had no answer for Graham especially in the redzone.

On the other hand, the Cardinals’ offense was stagnant to say the least. Quarterback Carson Palmer threw for 187 yards and two interceptions. The Cardinals’ running game combined for 86 yards and the leading wide receiver for them was Larry Fitzgerald with five receptions for 64 yards. Other than that the Arizona Cardinals wide receivers was shut down.

The only bright spot from this game was rookie safety Tyrann Mathieu, who had his first NFL interception and who best to get it off of than Drew Brees.

The Arizona Cardinals are now 1-2 on the season and go on the road next week to take on the struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers who lost to the New England Patriots today 23-3. The Cardinals will be facing a winless Buccaneers team that is hungry for a win and that has one of the best secondaries in the NFL.

Next week’s game will be shown on FOX at 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT.