Podcast: Instant Reactions to Arizona Cardinals Win

The Arizona Cardinals are 1-0. What's to make of their season opener?

Sep 7, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints cornerback Alontae Taylor (1) throws during the second half against the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

The Arizona Cardinals are officially 1-0 after their season opening win against the New Orleans Saints in 20-13 fashion.

It was by no means pretty - though style points don't matter in the National Football League.

"Honestly, Week 1 in the NFL, there's a lot of unknowns. I'm most pleased that we came out 1-0," Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon told reporters after the win.

Arizona carries their win into next week's home opener against the Carolina Panthers, but what's to make of their big win in the Big Easy?

The Cardinals on SI podcast gave our instant reactions to the game here:

Podcast: Arizona Cardinals Win vs New Orleans Saints

It was a bit of an up and down day for quarterback Kyler Murray, who finished the game with 21/29 passing for 163 yards and 2 TD to 0 INT.

There were times where Murray looked like the No. 1 overall pick, and other times where he struggled - a theme that's been far too common for the franchise passer.

"Do I want to do more?" Murray said after the win (h/t AZCardinals.com). "Of course. But you're happy with the win."

Read More: 5 Takeaways From Arizona Cardinals Win vs Saints

Arizona was up by ten points with five minutes left - and before you could blink, the Saints were deep in Cardinals territory threatening to score with the game clock nearing zero.

New Orleans ultimately couldn't, however, and the Cardinals escaped with a victory.

"We knew at the end, it was going to be on us," Dadrion Taylor-Demerson said of the final stop near the goal line. "We've worked on this since the 49ers game (to end 2024). It's everything. So we're going to be happy. And then tomorrow, it's on to prepare for the next opponent."

That seems to be the overall theme of the day - just get the win, learn from your mistakes, and move on.

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

"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."