3 Overreactions to Arizona Cardinals Week 1 Win

Not so fast, my friend!

People will look at their respective rushing numbers and buy into the hype we heard all offseason of Benson emerging as a 1B to Conner's 1A in Arizona's backfield.

Trey Benson: 8 carries, 69 yards
James Conner: 12 carries, 39 yards

However, Conner still played 65% of snaps compared to Benson's 33% on offense. Though the Saints bottled up Conner for the entire afternoon - they mostly did too with Benson, who splashed for a 52-yard run but only had 17 rushing yards on his seven other attempts.

Benson brings home run allure and we saw that on Sunday - though this will still be Conner's backfield until proven otherwise.

2. Cardinals Pass Rush Was Disappointing

The Cardinals registered just one defensive sack on Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler - and for a defensive front seven that was supposed to be night and day better from last year, that statistic doesn't exactly back those expectations up.

The truth is, after New Orleans' first drive when the offense quickly went three-and-out, head coach Kellen Moore made adjustments to the Saints' offense: Get the ball out - quickly.

That's precisely what unfolded, as Rattler averaged just 2.38 seconds to throw.

With the quick-paced adjustments from Moore and New Orleans, that gave the Cardinals little time to get after the passer.

"You have to have a little bit of understanding of when they’re going tempo the whole game and they’re getting the ball out really fast. A lot of those throws came in less than two seconds. There could be nobody out there and the ball’s getting out there before they hit them, so I always think we have to do a better job with that," said Gannon.

Even with the fast passes, the Cardinals still pressured Rattler 15 times according to Pro Football Focus.

It's unlikely most teams will pivot to what New Orleans did - but even if so, that plays to the advantage of the Cardinals' defense in limiting big plays downfield.

The pass rush has much room for improvement - though they looked just fine for Week 1.

Cardinals Already Miss Kyzir White

One underrated storyline entering training camp was the absence of former starting inside linebacker Kyzir White and how the Cardinals would replace him.

Arizona moved into the season with Akeem Davis-Gaither as Mack Wilson's new running mate, and many (including me) fell victim early on to the Saints running the ball with ease in the first half of Week 1.

However, defensive coordinator Nick Rallis made adjustments - and the Saints finished with just 107 yards total rushing on the day. Star running back Alvin Kamara had just seven rushing yards in the second half.

White's replacement in Davis-Gaither had seven tackles and one pass defensed - maybe not quite the numbers the former Cardinals captain would have tallied, but servicable nonetheless.

In today's league, inside linebacker is a position where some weaknesses can be hid more than others, especially with how Arizona deploys their three-safety look often - which sees one linebacker taken off the field.

Case in point, Arizona was just fine after finding their footing.

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