NFL Preview: Arizona Cardinals start quarterback Max Hall looking for revenge against the New Orleans Saints
The Arizona Cardinals were pummeled 45-14 by the New Orleans Saints during last season's play-offs, which saw the Saints go on to win their first ever Super Bowl championship. But Cardinals head coach
Ken Whisenhunt will attempt to inspire his team as they prepare to take on the defending champions in Arizona where the fans won't soon forget the beating they endured.
How they match up
The one major change between then and now is in the quarterback position for the Arizona Cardinals. Last season it was Kurt Warner who led the team under center, but, after losing to the Saints in the
divisional play-offs, Warner decided he had accomplished enough over his 12-year career and retired in the off-season.
After starting the year with Derek Anderson as their quarterback the Cardinals have decided to give rookie backup Max Hall a chance to lead the team. Derek Anderson has been hugely disappointing since
the start of the year, barely completing over 50 percent of his passes and throwing five interceptions.
Hall became the next in line when Anderson won the starting spot over Matt Leinart, who had come in as a rookie starter for the Cardinals five years ago before ceding the starting job to Warner. After
losing the starters job in Arizona, Leinart was cut and subsequently picked up by the Houston Texans. The Cardinals still boast a trio of proven offensive threats in running back Tim Hightower, who is averaging over five yards per carry, and receivers Larry
Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston.
The Saints are once again one of the best teams in the NFL with one of the highest octane offences. Six different receivers have already caught over 10 passes and five of those six have over 100 yards
receiving. Quarterback Drew Brees is firing on all cylinders, completing close to 75 percent of his passes, and has thrown seven touchdown passes while only throwing two interceptions. Some are even saying that this could be the year that Dan Marino's single-season
record of 5084 passing yards, which has stood for over 25 years, finally falls. The Saints, however, don't have a well established ground game and have had trouble stopping the run as well - something which the Cardinals would likely key on. Linebacker Johnathan
Vilma is a major component in the team's defence and will be instrumental in canceling out Tim Hightower.
What to expect
The Cardinals could only manage a slim victory against the lowly Raiders two weeks ago and suffered huge losses to the Atlanta Falcons and the San Diego Chargers giving up 41 points each time. Neither
the Falcons nor the Chargers have quite the offensive weaponry that the Saints can claim, so the outlook for the Cardinals is not good. The only advantages that the Cardinals will have is that they will be playing at home and have the motivation to erase last
year's result. These two factors should be enough to ensure that the Saints don't reach the 40-point plateau. They will score over 30 points, however, as they just have too many weapons for the Cardinals to cover.
Saints win a highscoring affair 38-24.
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