The Setup
2nd preseason game. I'll want to see whether guys who made plays last week "can do it again" (i.e. "Gollin's Rule of Three" - Can a player who had a big game prove his consistency by repeating the performance two times more)?

I'm also hoping that we'll find out who our starting WR's, TE's and CB#2 will be and which guys further down the food-chain are winning battles for backup roles. And - as one ASFN'er so delicately put it -" Please! No frickin' injuries!"

The Lede
Turnovers the Difference in Card 20 - 15 Win Over Saints

The Bottom Line:
Brees sat. Cards looked anemic starting out the game (Saint runners were blowing holes thru our front wall and Cards missed a boat-load of tackles. Bradford looked and performed the way we hoped he would; Rosen showed he can burn a defense if given the opportunity, but also tended to be jittery under pressure.

Telecast featured Saints announcers who ignored Cardinal players formost of the game. Game was full of helmet-to-tackle penalty issues (i.e. the refs weren't sure when there should or shouldn't be a penalty and neither did either team). Intentions were good, but all it did was slow the freakin' game down to a crawl.

Answering some of the obvious questions we had going into last night's contest:

Bradford continued to look solid.

Rosen would look All Pro on one play (check out his TD pass) and then reveal his"rookieness" on the next

David Johnson impressed for the second straight week when, on one play, he literally dragged half the Saints defense over the goal line to convert an impressive 1st down into an amazing touchdown.

Starting O-line was OK once again, but not as unstoppable as they were vs. SD.

Christian Kirk starting to make his presence known at WR. Some of the other WR's are beginning to step up.

Tackling was awful again - he only thing that saved the day were sacks and turnovers.

Benwikere's interception was a thing of beauty - we know he can tackle. If he has the speed to stay wiith receivers and the quickness to cover on short routes, he and J Taylor should provide depth and stability at CB #2 opposite Patrick Peterson.

Dawson wasn't nailing every kickoff or FG as cleanly as you'd want. I don't think McCrane is out of the picture.

• Saints at 15:00

  Tate returned KO forty yards to NO 37. On first play from scrimmage, Ingram ran off RG for +15. (Peters injured/return probable). Hill pecked his way to the Cardinal 30 in 6 plays, before Hill's pass for Meredith bounced off the receiver and was picked off by Reddick and returned to the AZ 26.

  Cards at 11:57

  Cards made it out to their 31 before punting to the NO 21.

  Saints at 9:29

  Starting at their own 21, Saints ran four times and for +2, +6, +11 and+19 yds and completed one pass for +2 before Hill fumbled the snap and Dora recovered the fumble for no gain at the Card 42. (Nkemdiche injured/return probable).

  Cards at 6:35

  False start call on Seals-Jones. D Johnson ran for 10-yds, but Cards couldn't capitalize. Lee's punt fair caught at Saints 14.

  Saints at 4:36

  3 & out. Punt net penalty returned by Kirk to Card 39.

  Cards at 3:16

  Bradford hit C Williams for 15-yds, Kirk for 12 yards, Holmes for +17 yds and Little for +6 before ending the quarter on a 2-yd Jihnson run. (Nkemdiche injured foot - out for rest of game).

  • First Quarter Score: Cards 0 -Saints 3.

• Cards (cont) at 15:00

  Cards at the NO 9. D Johnson ran for 9-yds off LG carrying half the Saints team on his back for a TD. XP Good. (Nkemdiche injured foot - out for rest of game). Cards 7 - Saints 0.

• Saints at 14:52

  TB on KO. After a Helmet-Contact penalty moved the ball to the NO 40, Hill's pass for Ginn was picked off by Benwikere (who "turned into a WR" and caught a deep pass over his shoulder and stayed in bounds)..

  Cards at 14:23

  Cards ball at their own 13. Rosen in. 7 plays (plus penalties for roughing the passer and defensive PI) put the ball on the NO 13, where Rosen threaded the needle thru the proverbial "small window"( to hit Kirk for a +13 yd TD. Cards 14 - Saints 0.

  Saints at 10:36

  KO returned for 28-yds to NO 28. Hill led NO on an 8-play 4:31 drive capped by 52-yd Lutz FG. (Key play: 43-yd scramble by Hill). Cards 14 - Saints 3.

  Cards at 6:05

  Logan returned the KO 26 yds to Card 31. Rosen engineered an 11-play drive where he hit C Williams for +15 yds, Holmes for +17 yds, Foster for +9 yds before a false-start penalty derailed the Cards at the NO 22. Dawson was good from 41-yds. Cards 17 - Saints 3

  Chargers at 1:30

  Scott returned the KO to the NO 32. On the sixth play of the series, Pierre sacked Hill and forced a fumble. Dora recovered a returned it 16 yards to Card 43.

  Cards at 0:25

  Cards took over on their own 43 and moved to the NO 28 in 6 plays. Dawson's 46-yd FG try was wide right.

  Halfitme Score: Cards 17 - Saints 3

Cardinals at 15:00

TB on KO. Cards started from their own 25. Kanoff in for Rosen. (Kanoff threw mainly short stuff and looked crisp). 10-play drive stalled at the NO 43. Lee's punt fair caught at NO 9.

Saints at 10:02

Savage in at QB. Three and out.

Cards at 7:42

Punt returned 19 yards to NO 36. Cards did very little. Intentional grounding flag led to a 53-yd McCrane FG. Cards 20 - Saints 3.

Saints at 4:55

KO returned to NO 36. They managed to drive to the Card 11 as the quarter ended.

• Third Quarter Score:Cards 20 - Saints 3

• Saints (continued)

• NO made it to the Card 13 where Nichols sacked Savage for minus-8 yds and Lutz was good from 31 yds. Cards 20 - Saints 6.

Cardinals at 12:54

• KO returned to the Card 19. Three & out. Punt fair caught at the NO 27. An A James sack of Savage derailed the 6-play drive and set up a 36-yd punt downed at the NO 27.

Saints at 11:16

Ball on NO 27. 6 plays & punt. Downed at the Card 24.

Cardinals at 8:23

Three runs vy Badie...& out. Punt returned to NO 31.

Saints at 6:13

Barrett in for Savage. Lots of scrambling by Barrett. Cards finally stopped NO at their own 19. Lutz's 37 yd FG was good. Cards 20 - Saints 9.

Cardinals at 3:02

KO returned to Card 21. Three and out. Punt returned to NO 31.

Saints at 1:04

A +16 yd Barrett to Floyd completion was followed by +14 yd completion with a face-mask penalty tacked on. A roughing the passer penalty put the ball on the Card 12 yd line where Barrett scrambled off LG for a 12-yd TD. Two-point attmept failed. Cards 20 - Saints 15.

Cardinals at 0:20

Onside kick went out of bounds. Card ball at their own 44. Knee. Over.

Final Score: Cards 20 - Saints 15

Last Word:
Game three is where "what we see" is pretty much what we've got. We're not as far along as we usually are and there still remains a lot of iffiness lurking in our depth chart.