Cardinals Coach Reacts to Heart-Stopping Win vs Saints

Arizona Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon was just happy to escape with a victory.

Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon smiles on the sidelines as his team plays against the Las Vegas Raiders at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, on Aug. 23, 2025. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It wasn't pretty, but the Arizona Cardinals got the job done.

Week 1 was a chaotic roller coaster for the Cardinals, emerging from the Superdome in 20-13 fashion over the New Orleans Saints.

In a game where the Cardinals owned a ten-point lead with under five minutes to play, the Saints took things down to the very last play before Arizona could hop back on their team plane with a victory.

After the game, Jonathan Gannon met with reporters and offered the following:

Jonathan Gannon Reacts to Cardinals' Week 1 Win

Sep 7, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner (6) reacts to scoring a touchdown against the New Orleans Saints during the first half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

"What we said all week - the most important thing is a win. So I feel really good about that. I told the team, all three phases made plays to help us win the game. And I'm sure all three phases, for sure, wants plays back. So the most important thing we do now is tomorrow, let's learn from it, get better and move on," said Gannon.

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The Cardinals' final four drives featured three punts and a blocked field goal, which allowed New Orleans to sneak back into the game. Despite gaining just 276 net yards, Arizona earned the win thanks to a series of defensive stops near the end of the game.

"The execution of some end of game calls I thought was really good," said Gannon.

"The end of the game was awesome but I thought holding them to a field goal there on the second to last drive, that obviously was a huge, huge stop there. I think Dante (Stills) made a play. We rushed pretty well there, covered some guys up. So that was good. You never know how the game's going to kick out, and every yard counts. So I thought that was big."

Sep 7, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) passes against the New Orleans Saints during the first half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The Cardinals were 6.5 point favorites, the largest of any road team in Week 1. Many expected Arizona to roll over the Saints, though with so much unknown in the first week of the season, Gannon says he's not dissapointed with how the game played out:

"Honestly, Week 1 in the NFL, there's a lot of unknowns. I'm most pleased that we came out 1-0."

The Cardinals now move into Week 2, where they'll play host to the Carolina Panthers at State Farm Stadium. Fans believe Arizona's start to the schedule should be very advantageous, though in a week-to-week league, it's better to learn from wins than losses according to Gannon.

"A lot to learn from, but I'm happy that we came out of here with a win."