New Orleans Saints vs Arizona Cardinals Match Player Stats On Sep 13, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Sep 13, 2015

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Sean Payton had no choice but to punt on fourth down with his New Orleans Saints backed up at their own 7-yard line and two timeouts left to call.

There were just under two minutes remaining Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium and if the Saints' defense could just make a couple quick stops, use their final timeouts wisely, and give Drew Brees one last crack at the Arizona Cardinals, anything was possible.

Brees, after all, had been shredding the Cardinals' defense throughout the afternoon. He's engineered 24 fourth-quarter comebacks in his Saints' career. What's one more?

But he never got the chance. One play after the Saints decided to punt from deep in their own territory, Carson Palmer threw a little hitch pass to rookie running back David Johnson and Johnson took off for a wild, 55-yard touchdown romp to seal a 30-19 victory for the Cardinals.

Johnson, a third-round pick from Northern Iowa, out-sprinted every Saints player within sight to put the finishing touches on a game that could have went either way. The Cardinals may need to rely on him a lot more than they were planning, too, because starting running back Andre Ellington left the game in the second half with a right knee injury.

His status wasn't immediately known.

Brees, who was 30 of 48 for 351 yards and one touchdown, had helped the Saints pull to within eight points after he connected with running back Mark Ingram on a 59-yard screen that helped set up Zach Hocker's fourth field goal of the game.

Arizona had extended its lead on a 17-yard pass from Palmer to tight end Darren Fells, who would finish with four catcher for 82 yards - the most receiving yards by an Arizona tight end since Rob Awalt in 1989.

The Cardinals built a 14-10 halftime lead behind a pair of 80-plus-yard drives, striking first on a 10-yard touchdown from Palmer to John Brown, and then utilizing a 48-yard reception by Fells and a pass interference call that set up a one-yard touchdown plunge by Ellington.

Arizona took the opening drive and Palmer went 5 of 6 for 62 yards to cap it off on his touchdown throw to Brown, who is emerging as the quarterback's favorite target. Palmer was flushed out of the pocket on the scoring play, but had plenty of time to wait for Brown to get open in the right corner of the end zone.

A great block by free-agent addition Jermaine Gresham allowed another fellow tight end Fells to break free for a 48-yard catch and run. Palmer hit Fells on a crossing route underneath the coverage and after Fells made his way down the left sideline, Gresham took out two would-be tacklers - linebacker Ramon Humber and free safety Rafael Bush - on one big hit.

Fells' big play, coupled with a pass interference penalty on the Saints, put the ball at the Arizona 1 and Ellington, who showed great bursts of speed throughout the game after being hampered all of last season with a torn tendon in his foot, scored easily.

The Saints kept pace behind the passing of Brees and two field goals from Hocker, who connected on kicks from 37 and 23 yards. Brees capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive by hitting Brandon Coleman on a 12-yard pass in which Coleman avoided a tackle by the Cardinals' Tyrann Mathieu.

Hocker would later also hit from 49 yards with 12:24 remaining to pull the Saints within a point, 17-16.

Notes: Drew Brees is now one completion away from moving ahead of Darn Marino (4,967) for third place on the NFL's all-time list. ... Arizona WR Larry Fitzgerald has now caught at least one pass in 164 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the NFL. ... Already missing starting FS Jairus Byrd because of a knee injury, the Saints also had to play without his backup, Rafael Bush, in the second half because of a chest injury. His status wasn't immediately known.