With rosters being cut down to the 53-man limit on Tuesday afternoon, it’s finally time to talk some regular-season football! Losers of three straight season openers, the Arizona Cardinals have a golden opportunity to start Jonathan Gannon’s third season off on a high note with a matchup against the lowly New Orleans Saints.

For the first time in recent memory, the Cards have a distinct talent advantage over their opponent. (If only games were won on paper!) Every opponent you face in the NFL requires a certain level of respect, because even the worst teams can catch you sleeping on a bad day, so over the next week, we're going to take a deep dive into what exactly Cardinals fans can expect the Saints to throw at them, and what type of gameplan it’s going to require for Arizona to escape the bayou unscathed. Today, our focus is on the matchup between the Saints' defense and the Cardinals' offense.

A Changing of the Guard in NOLA

The Saints' defense is undergoing major schematic changes following the departure of longtime defensive coordinator and head coach Dennis Allen. Allen’s defenses employed a risk/reward, man-coverage heavy system that featured quite a bit of blitzing to compensate for a defensive front that saw just two players top a 70.0 PFF Pass Rush grade. Allen’s replacement comes in the form of former Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley. Staley comes to New Orleans one year removed from his dismissal as Chargers head coach for failure to put a semi-competent defense opposite Justin Herbert. Staley spent 2024 as a top assistant for the San Francisco 49ers, in which he and coordinator Nick Sorenson oversaw the NFL’s 28th-ranked defense in points per game, so it’s safe to say this hire comes with an overwhelming amount of skepticism. Staley will employ a base 3-4 front, with two high safeties over the top. You’ll see a lot of softer zone coverages such as Cover-2, Cover-4, and two variations of Cover-4 known as Cover-6 and Cover-9, which take a traditional Cover-4 shell and split the field between two defenders, each covering ¼ of the field and one defender covering the other ½. The goal of this defensive structure is to limit big plays while also baiting quarterbacks into turnovers with post-snap coverage rotations instead of attempting to generate big plays with risky blitzes.

Any zone coverage will break down without a pass rush, and that’s where the first major crack in Staley’s philosophy manifests. With so much reliance on a 3 or 4-man rush, the Saints will need multiple members of their defensive line to step up. The projected depth chart lists Cameron Jordan and Bryan Bresee on the inside, with Chase Young and Carl Granderson flanking them on the edges. Jordan is a future Ring of Honor member for New Orleans, but his pass-rushing production in recent years rivals that of a practice-squad player. Granderson has carved out a nice career as a do-it-all number two type of edge, but he’s never played in a standup edge role before. Chase Young and Bryan Bresee form the only hope this team has for pass rush production in 2025, as Young enters fresh off a seven-sack season and an extension, while Bresee enjoyed eight sacks in 2024, albeit while posting a 57.2 pass-rushing grade. This pass rush is likely to be one of the worst in football again this season, especially without a steady volume of blitzing behind them.

New Orleans' linebackers present a fairly simple conversation, starting with ageless wonder Demario Davis. NFL fans know all about Davis and what he brings to the table; incredible instincts for the linebacker position that allow him to fill gaps in the run game and remain competent in coverage even at 36 years old. At this point, Davis won’t singlehandedly wreck the Cardinals' offense, but they need to be aware of his presence every snap. Alongside Davis is Pete Werner, a rock-solid tackler whose deficiencies come from his Jekyll and Hyde approach to coverage the past two seasons, with a disastrous 47.6 coverage grade in 2023 that improved to a respectable mark of 69.0 last season. Steady linebacker play gives the Saints a chance for this unit to be salvageable in 2025, though the position has never been easier for offenses to scheme around and attack.

Zone-heavy defenses require major communication from their secondaries, especially when they're going to be rotating as often as New Orleans will. The Saints are opting for a veteran-heavy approach in the secondary, which is likely to limit potential coverage busts, but the personnel choices they've made leave quite a bit to be desired. Justin Reid comes over from Kansas City to be the leader in this secondary. While his play can be unspectacular, he has experience leading a Steve Spagnuolo defense, who asks the world of his safeties much like Staley. Opposite Reid is Julian Blackmon, another solid safety who has shown to be adequate in coverage and below average in run support.

One outside corner spot will go to Alontae Taylor, who has good size for the position, but also coverage grades and missed tackle numbers that hurt to look at. Any potential for this secondary to be more than below average rests on the shoulders of Taylor’s running mate, Kool-Aid McKinstry. McKinstry, a second-round selection in last year's draft out of Alabama, impressed in a limited sample as a rookie with a 67.1 grade in coverage. McKinstry is an ok athlete whose strengths come more on the mental and technical sides, making him a good fit for this defense.

How Arizona matches up

The goal of this Saints defense is clear: they’re going to sit deep, trust their pass rush to win quickly or force a checkdown, and rally to the football. It’s a defense that the Cardinals could have a field day against if they simply bring the 2024 offensive game plan over into Week 1. It all starts on the ground, where James Connor and Trey Benson should have the time of their lives. The Saints brought in veteran nose tackle Davon Godchaux to help eat space against the run, and while he should command some attention, it’s the other starters along the line that the Cardinals should be eager to attack. Among the starters listed earlier along the Saints front, Bryan Bresee recorded a putrid 28.8 grade against the run, and while his grade was almost doubled by fellow starters Cam Jordan (54.5) and Chase Young (55.4), those grades don’t even meet the standard for average. Carl Granderson is a really good run defender who could give Jonah Williams trouble, but that’s where Kyler Murray should factor in.

Murray wants to run more in 2025, and whether that comes in the form of play-action bootlegs or read options, Arizona can leave Granderson unblocked and make him the read defender, effectively rendering him helpless while giving Arizona a numbers advantage against an already talent-deficient defense. Through the air, this could be a career game for Trey McBride, as it’s tough to identify a safety or linebacker on the roster who could match up with McBride in coverage. It doesn’t have to just be downfield 1-on-1s either, as the depth of the zones should allow for easy checkdowns in the flat or time for screens to develop, both of which give McBride ample time to build up steam and force missed tackles. The plan should be to remove the slot receiver in favor of backup tight end Tip Reiman, a punishing run blocker, and hunker down in a power formation to play some grown man football. James Connor should receive every carry he can handle, while Kyler should certainly be sprinkled in to keep the defense honest, and McBride should get every target he can handle in the passing game. If it sounds familiar to last season, that’s because it is, and it’s allowed to be, because Arizona finally has the roster talent to bulldoze opponents.

Check back next week for Part 2, detailing the Saints' plan of attack on offense, and how a new look Cardinals defense can put them to bed early, along with a final score prediction for the game.