Arizona Cardinals: What to Know about the New Orleans Saints
The Arizona Cardinals and the New Orleans Saints will both look to snap their losing streaks as they match-up in Week 15 of the regular season.
Fresh off of another loss, this time in the form of a soggy 26-23 defeat at the hands of the Miami Dolphins, the Arizona Cardinals will look to bounce back in their final home game of the regular season.
What’s their story?
The New Orleans Saints will come to town, looking to snap a two-game losing streak. The Saints, lead by head coach Sean Payton are 5-8, and third in the NFC South Division.
Quarterback Drew Brees and his Saints were frequent fliers when it came to the postseason a few years ago. They won the Super Bowl in 2009, and then made the playoffs in three of the next four seasons. But after two 7-9 seasons, the Saints are looking to avoid a third-straight season in which they don’t see the postseason.
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And snapping that streak doesn’t look very good this year. To start, they began the regular season with a three-game skid, thanks to losses against the Oakland Raiders, New York Giants, and the Atlanta Falcons.
They quickly snapped out of it, and broke loose for four wins in their next five games. Their momentum they displayed through those wins carried them back into the playoff race. But, just like their season began, the Saints quickly fell back out of the race with four losses in five games.
The Saints, like the Cardinals, are playing for pride at this point in the season. Both teams will look to avoid adding to their losing streaks with a win in Week 15.
X’s and O’s
Despite a poor record, the Brees and the Saints boast one of the best offenses in all of football. They average 27.5 points per game, which is good for third in all of football. They’ve scored more than 30 points in six games this year, and have even scored 49 in their blowout win against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 12.
Brees’ and his offense average 418.3 yards per game and 313.9 passing yards per game, both of which lead all of football.
Their defense, however, is the reason why the Saints own a record below the .500-mark. They allow 27.0 points per game, leaving them just a 0.5 PPG differential. While Brees torches opposing defenses, opposing quarterbacks often torch the New Orleans defense. They give up an average of 268.3 passing yards per game, which ranks them 29th in the league.
While the Saints do score a lot, it often cancels out due to the lackluster play on the defensive end. If they were able to improve defensively, the Saints would be a threat from the NFC as they once were.
If the Cardinals are able to slow down Brees and his offense, Carson Palmer and his squad should enjoy a win in their last home game of the regular season.