GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — New Orleans rookie Spencer Rattler led the game-winning drive in the final minute, giving new momentum to his bid to become the team’s backup quarterback this season. The Saints beat the Arizona Cardinals 16-14 in a preseason game on Saturday night.
Rattler – a fifth-round pick from South Carolina – led a 12-play, 56-yard drive in the final two minutes, capped by a 37-yard field goal by Charlie Smyth with five seconds left.
“We had no operational issues whatsoever, operations ran super smoothly,” Rattler said. “Here and there we could have had better execution, that’s what the first games are for, to solve those problems. The first live game, I was happy to go in there and play ball, go for it and come out with a win.”
The Saints are trying to find a replacement quarterback for Derek Carr, and it’s a duel between Rattler and second-year player Jake Haener.
Haener played most of the first half, completing 9 of 13 passes for 107 yards. His big moment came late in the second quarter when he completed a 58-yard pass down the sideline to AT Perry that set up a field goal. Perry finished the game with 85 yards, his team’s best passing yard.
Rattler scored a 4-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to give the Saints a 13-7 lead. He was a star at Pinnacle High School in Phoenix before moving on to Oklahoma and South Carolina. He completed 9 of 17 passes for 70 yards.
“I thought he executed it with composure,” Saints coach Dennis Allen said. “I thought he made some plays, I thought he could create with his feet when things weren’t quite going the way you wanted them to. So I thought he did a good job.”
Rattler’s mother is an elementary school teacher in the greater Phoenix area and brought some of her students as well as friends and family to the game.
Saints rookie left tackle Taliese Fuaga started and played a good portion of the first half. He was selected with the No. 14 overall pick out of Oregon State.
The Cardinals left most of their starters on the bench, with a few exceptions, including No. 4 overall pick Marvin Harrison Jr. The former Ohio State receiver – the first non-quarterback selected in the draft – played one series and didn’t catch a single pass.
Arizona’s starting quarterback Kyler Murray did not play as expected.
Coach Jonathan Gannon said he wants to use the preseason to evaluate backup quarterbacks Desmond Ridder and Clayton Tune, who are battling for the No. 2 spot. Ridder started 13 games for Atlanta last season before the Cardinals acquired him in an offseason trade that sent receiver Rondale Moore to the Falcons.
Ridder played the first half and completed 4 of 9 passes for 43 yards while carrying the ball five times for 39 yards. He did not receive good protection from the offensive line, which limited his performance.
“You’d like to get some first downs, but it’s not just the quarterback’s fault, it’s everybody’s fault,” Gannon said. “He doesn’t block for himself and he doesn’t run routes for himself, so I think we need to be better overall.”
Tune was Ridder’s best passer on the first drive of the second half, leading a nine-play, 70-yard drive that ended with Michael Carter’s 11-yard touchdown run. The second-year quarterback completed 4 of 5 passes for 54 yards during the drive.
Tune finished the game 15 of 24 for 163 yards and a 10-yard touchdown pass with 1:55 left in the fourth quarter.
“I felt more comfortable seeing the defense and had confidence in the game plan,” Tune said. “I saw it well and played on time.”
New Orleans used more of its starters than Arizona, but most of them didn’t last long. Carr completed 2 of 6 passes for 12 yards, Alvin Kamara had two runs for 3 yards, and Chris Olave caught a ball for 10 yards.
Both teams started slowly on offense, with the Saints leading 6-0 at halftime after Blake Grupe made two field goals, one from 26 yards and the other from 33 yards.
In total yards, Arizona was ahead 328 to 286.
Murray sits
Gannon announced earlier this week that Murray would not participate in any of the preseason games as the team sought to protect his health.
Murray missed about 11 months while recovering from a torn ACL in his right knee that caused him to miss parts of the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He returned for the final eight games last season.
Next
Saints: August 18th at San Francisco.
Cardinals: Next Saturday in Indianapolis.
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