Arizona Cardinals Ready for Big Test in Big Easy

TEMPE -- It's an exciting time for the Arizona Cardinals as they prepare for their regular season opener.

"Yeah, it is. It is," said Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon with a wide grin when asked if it feels good to say his team's in an official game week.

"Week 1. Gotta keep the main thing, the main thing though today, take care of today first."

The Cardinals begin festivities with perhaps the most festive of all NFL cities in New Orleans, as an underdog Saints squad looks to play spoiler at home.

"That's the only show in town. It's a good football city, and I've been in there multiple times. Aside from being Week 1, it's a passionate fan base and it's loud there. We gotta make sure that we handle it," Gannon said.

New Orleans Saints Provide Unique Challenge to Arizona Cardinals

Arizona Cardinals HC Jonathan Ganno — Aug 23, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon against the Las Vegas Raiders during a preseason NFL game at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Though the Cardinals are heavily viewed as favorites, the initial weeks of the season give ample opportunity for anything to happen - just look at last year's Saints squad, who started 2-0 while outscoring opponents 91-29 in the first two weeks.

New Orleans then lost their next seven games, though the point remains: In Week 1, anything is liable to happen.

Especially with experienced play-caller Kellen Moore in the Big Easy, who has plenty of experience against Gannon.

"I have a high opinion of Kellen. If you go back and look at my track record against him, it's not good. Truthfully, he's always had really good offenses. He's very creative. It makes it really hard on a defense how he calls the game," said Gannon.

"He's been at a couple of different stops, and his offense is playing a way that's hard to defend. It really is - and not just because he's got good players, take that out of it. Schematically, he's hard to defend. The pace that he plays with is hard to defend. It puts you on your heels. He's always been ahead of me. So we got our work cut out for us."

Kellen Moore vs Jonathan Gannon

New Orleans Saints HC Kellen Moor — Aug 23, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore walks the sideline before a game against the Denver Broncos at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Gannon wasn't lying about his track record against Moore.

Gannon and Moore faced off four times as coordinators during their respective time in the NFC East. Moore's Dallas Cowboys owned a 3-1 record against Gannon's Philadelphia Eagles between 2021-22.

Conducting Dallas' offense, Moore's unit put up point totals of 41, 51, 17 and 40 against Gannon's defense.

Their situations are entirely different now, though Gannon's well aware of that previous history plays a part in preparation.

"I feel like whenever I played him, he was always right. He thought I was going to be in this, and sure as hell I was in that and he got me. So he's good, he's really good. There's no wonder he's a head coach ... he's a stud," Gannon said of Moore.

Cardinals Will Face Spencer Rattler in Week 1

New Orleans Saints QB Spencer Rattle — Aug 23, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler (2) calls for the ball against the Denver Broncos during the first half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

For the opener, Spencer Rattler won the Saints' starting quarterback job over rookie second-round pick Tyler Shough.

Rattler, an Arizona native, started last season for New Orleans with little success - going 0-6 as the lead man for the Saints with more interceptions (5) than touchdowns (4).

The more film, the better.

"I think so, yeah absolutely," said Gannon when asked if it's better to have film on a quarterback as opposed to facing a fresh rookie.

"You look back at what he does, his patterns in the pocket, how he moves, how it looks set up. It's a different scheme, so it's going to be a little bit different, but you definitely see the skill set of who you're defending."

We'll see if the Cardinals can go marching in this Sunday, with kickoff slated for 10:00 AM MST.