Makes some good points about Jimmy Graham being missed and is correct about our redzone woes, however he is completely of base when talking about the defense.

This defense played fairly well and if not for some awful calls by the refs they would have played much better. Blaming this loss on the defense or even comparing it to last years is idiotic.

1-4 in the redzone is what lost this game.

New Orleans Saints falter in red zone in first game minus Jimmy Graham - New Orleans Saints Blog - ESPN

Our defense was a little better in the second half, but here's major problem about today. The cardinals have one of the worst O-lines in football and, an old, statue QB coming off his second major knee injury, and we had ZERO SACKS. We're not going to get any better opportunities than we had today to get to the QB and we still couldn't do it.

There were some questionable calls, but Breaux was holding all day. He was just awful.

Brees looks exactly the same. All this hoopla about getting his mechanics back proved to be nothing more than hype. He still stares down receivers, especially when we try to run those WR screens... Telegraphs those. The blocking on those plays was also really bad, but that tends to happen when the defense can see it coming. I've been saying it's less mechanical as it is decisions and execution.

I have never gotten the hype about Coleman's alleged potential. He's big... ok... Anything else? Colston drops almost everything that touches his hands. He's been in decline for a long time. He just looks like a plug in our offense now.

Lastly, while I mentioned Brees staring down receivers giving plays away, it is equally true that the play calling got very predictable. SOOO many screens. We busted a couple, but most of the day those were drive killers.

I have to agree with Triplett on the defense. They were really bad today. Yes, they had a nice little stretch in the middle of the game but that was it. They got shredded for 427 yards and 31 points against a mediocre at best offense. The defense also made zero plays in the 4th quarter. Arizona is a defensive minded team whose season high last year was 31 points. They only had 2 games where they scored in the 30's all of last year (their other one was exactly 30). Arizona was 24th last year in points averaging 19.4 ppg and 24th in the league with 319.8 ypg. It's not like our offense was turning it over and giving them great field position. It's not like they got points off special teams. This was just simply the cards offense dominating our defense. We couldn't stop their passing game or the run. If we are thinking this was a good effort by our defense then we are in trouble because there are a lot of other offenses out there on our schedule who are much more dangerous.

With all that being said, I hope we can get some guys back and the defense will improve. I really think getting Lewis and a healthy Byrd back could make this defense solid. I did see signs of potential but if I'm evaluating the game as a whole, I'd say it was a bad performance from the defense.

I have to agree with Triplett on the defense. They were really bad today. Yes, they had a nice little stretch in the middle of the game but that was it. They got shredded for 427 yards and 31 points against a mediocre at best offense. The defense also made zero plays in the 4th quarter. Arizona is a defensive minded team whose season high last year was 31 points. They only had 2 games where they scored in the 30's all of last year (their other one was exactly 30). Arizona was 24th last year in points averaging 19.4 ppg and 24th in the league with 319.8 ypg. It's not like our offense was turning it over and giving them great field position. It's not like they got points off special teams. This was just simply the cards offense dominating our defense. We couldn't stop their passing game or the run. If we are thinking this was a good effort by our defense then we are in trouble because there are a lot of other offenses out there on our schedule who are much more dangerous.

With all that being said, I hope we can get some guys back and the defense will improve. I really think getting Lewis and a healthy Byrd back could make this defense solid. I did see signs of potential but if I'm evaluating the game as a whole, I'd say it was a bad performance from the defense.