Arizona Cardinals vs. New Orleans Saints Picks and Prediction, Sunday September 7, 2025
The NFL season is finally here, and in the opener for a couple of NFC teams in the Big Easy, sd the New Orleans Saints play host to the Arizona Cardinals. Both teams finished under .500 last season. The Saints had their worst season in nearly 20 years, going 5-12. Don’t get penalized, keep reading this Arizona Cardinals vs. New Orleans Saints to get the full score info and other free NFL picks.
The Cardinals come into this game as a 6-point favorite with the total sitting at 43.5.
Cardinals Look for Continued Improvement Under Gannon
Jonathan Gannon enters his third season as the head coach of the Cardinals and in his first year, they were 4-13 and last season improved to 8-9. Last season, Arizona ranked 11th in the league in points per game and 16th in opponents’ ppg. They did not do much in the off-season in terms of the offense, but they made some big moves to improve the defense. Kyler Murray (3,851 yards, 21 TD, 11 INT, 572 rushing yards) was healthy for a full season and has some weapons with the likes of RB James Connor (1.,094 yards 8 TD), and Trey McBride (1,146 yards 2 TD), who is one of the better tight ends in the league.
- The Arizona offense will be facing a New Orleans defense that only ranked 28th in the league last season in pass defense and 30th in run defense.
- 2024 first-round pick Marvin Harrison Jr. came to the team with a ton of hype and while he had 884 yards with 8 TDs, the Cardinals expect more from him this season as the young wideout bulked up to 220 pounds from 209.
- The two big moves the Cardinals made in the off-season were free agent signings in edge rusher Josh Sweat and NT Dalvin Tomlinson.
- CB Will Johnson was once pegged as the top CB in the draft but injury concerns had him fall to Arizona with the 47th pick.
- Last season, the Cardinals were only 2-6 on the road.
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Moore Gets His Shot for the Saints
The Saints have a new head coach in Kellen Moore and this is his first head coaching job Last season was the offensive coordinator of the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. He inherits a team with a lot of holes and not the best QB situation. Derek Carr, surprisingly, retired and second-year QB Spencer Rattler (1,317 yards 15 TD 5 INT) beat out rookie Tyler Shough in training camp to win the job. Alvin Kamara rushed for 950 yards last season but missed the last three games and #1 WR Chris Olave missed eight games, so health is an issue. The team made some solid additions to help the offensive line and drafted OT Kelvin Banks Jr. in the first round with the ninth pick.
- The Saints will face a Cardinals’ defense that last season ranked 15th against the pass and 20th against the run.
- Not only do the Saints have a new head coach but a new defensive coordinator in former head coach Brandon Staley.
- A couple of the solid signings on the defensive side of the ball were DT Davon Godchaux and S Justin Reid.
- They re-signed edge rusher Chase Young and four of their top six draft picks were defensive players.
- The secondary is a big issue with aging players and traded star CB Marshon Lattimore in the middle of last season and lost promising CB Paulson Adebo in free agency.
- Last season, the Saints were 3-6 at home.
Cardinals vs. Saints Pick
Spread Pick for Cardinals vs. Saints
- Cardinals -6 (+4 Units)
The Cardinals were 8-9 last season and have legit playoff hopes this season if Murray can stay healthy and the new additions can help the defense. On the other side of the coin, the Saints have talent but still have a lot of issues, especially at the QB position. The Saints lost all seven games where Rattler played last season, but it did not help that the WR corps was injury-riddled. There are a lot of holes for a New Orleans team that many pundits are picking to get the top pick in the next draft. In terms of the Arizona Cardinals vs. New Orleans Saints prediction, the Cardinals have the better team on both sides of the ball, and that will show in this game, where they will win and cover the spread.
Over/Under Pick for Cardinals vs. Saints
- Over 43.5 (+4 Units)
I am leaning towards the Over in this game, even though the Saints only ranked 24th last season in ppg. The Cardinals ranked 11th in that category last season, have solid skill players, and will be facing a Saints’ team with a lot of question marks on defense, especially in the secondary. Arizona ranked in the middle of the pack last season on defense and made some solid moves to improve that unit in the offseason. The Saints will put up some points but look for the Cardinals to put up many more, which is why the Over is the pick for this season opener.
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