New Orleans Saints vs Arizona Cardinals 2025 Week 1 Recap

Greyson Jenkins • September 7, 2025

The Saints may have a new era underway, with new coaches and players, but the feeling sitting in many fans’ stomachs is eerily familiar.

In Kellen Moore’s debut as a head coach, many similar mishaps from last season were present: questionable time management, disgustingly vanilla playcalling, pre-snap penalties left and right, the defense letting up big plays on 3rd downs, and oh, Chris Olave almost got killed again. The storyline of the game was also a mirror image of games from the previous regime, as the team built optimism early, then made fans consider breaking out the brown bags, just to rebuild that hope and break every heart in the dome in the end. With all that being said, let’s break it down.

What I was Looking for

The Saints are a team clearly trying to cover up a rebuild, so I was by no means expecting much, but I was hoping to see some young players show promise. The notes I made before the game to look for were:

How does Kool-Aid look against Marvin Harrison Jr.? Does he look like a CB1?
Does Rattler look calm, cool, and collected in the pocket, and is he making good decisions?
Can the Saints' defense finally stop a mobile QB with Staley at the Helm? (While noting that Chase Young is missing)
What is the target share between Olave and Shaheed?

Kool-Aid: Kool-Aid McKinstry’s performance left more to be desired, but also showed that there is a possibility for him to grow into a solid player for the Saints, just maybe not that true CB1. Throughout the game, it felt as if the Cardinals were targeting him, and perhaps the defensive play calls weren’t doing him any favors (man-to-man at the end zone against a mesh concept). He had a good PBU against MHJ that appeared clean, only to be wiped away by a late PI call. MHJ then beat him on solid coverage on a go ball, and he also had a bad mistake on a long run down the sideline, where he failed to force Trey Benson out of bounds.

Rattler: Spencer Rattler’s day was also a mixed bag, but it felt like Kellen Moore’s playcalling was extremely limiting Rattler’s ability to air it out. Spencer Rattler finished the day with 214 yards from 27 completions, with 0 touchdowns or interceptions. It felt as though Kellen Moore didn’t fully trust Rattler in this one, calling what felt like a short hitch/slant followed by a run over and over until the Saints' final two drives. The only two times before that drive that Rattler really let loose were two deep ball attempts to Rashid Shaheed, one being a pick called back by a Cardinals penalty, and the other being a missed PI. The first throw was a poor decision, as Shaheed never seemed to come open, whereas the second was good ball placement on a fade. In the final two drives of the game, Rattler made good decision after good decision, and gave Juwan Johnson the chance to tie the game with a perfectly thrown pass down the seam, which was sadly dropped. With all this being said, I don’t think Rattler was good or bad, and I would love to see the performance on the final two drives spread out throughout the rest of the game (which could also mean adjusting the playcalling throughout).

Defense vs. Murray: The Saints defense has struggled massively with mobile quarterbacks for what feels like an eternity, so what we saw today felt slightly better than I expected. Although Kyler Murray was able to escape a few times and extend drives with his legs early, having 38 yards on 7 carries, the Saints' defense felt like they were able to slow him down when it got to crunch time. In this game, the Saints were also without their lead man in pressures from last season, Chase Young. Without him, they demanded more from Cam Jordan and Carl Granderson, who both absolutely balled out, with 1.5 sacks each. When we all went into this game, did any of us expect Cam Jordan to have 1.5 sacks?!? Although it’s not the younger guys stepping up, I will take that from a guy who has been talked about as simply a “vet presence” in the locker room.

Target Share, Who’s the WR1: An interesting wrinkle in this training camp was that Rashid Shaheed was seemingly getting the same, if not more, targets than the team’s WR1, Chris Olave. In this game, Olave finished with 54 yards from 7 receptions on 13 targets, and Shaheed finished with 33 yards from 6 receptions on 9 targets. The majority of these receptions came short of the sticks, with an exception here and there. Shaheed did not seem to be involved in the game at all until the second half, which felt like another misstep in gameplanning by Kellen Moore.

The Offense

The Good: The Saints' offense had some great runs from Alvin Kamara (11 car, 45 yds, 1 td) and Kendre Miller (5 car, 24 yds), with Devin Neal also stepping in with a couple of nice runs (2 car, 9 yds). Another reflection from the previous season popped up, with the team's leading receiver from the previous season, Juwan Johnson, stepping up big time (8 rec, 76 yards). He did “drop” the potential game-tying pass from Spencer Rattler, but the defender made a great play on the ball to hit it out. Rattler had flashes, as I previously mentioned, so he held off the “Tyler Shough should be playing” conversation for at least another week.

The Bad: The Saints' offense had more bad moments than good today, with numerous penalties both pre and post-snap by the offensive line stalling drives. Kellen Moore, coming over as an offensive-minded head coach and as one who focused on building the OL this offseason, should be able to have these penalties held to a minimum. The playcalling by Moore also felt really iffy as passing concepts seemed to all go short of the sticks, even on late downs. In addition, the run game became very predictable, and also fell non-existent in the second half. Something that feels like a gimme for this team, year in, year out, are targets for Alvin Kamara in the passing game, and no screens or designed dump-offs to him seemed like an idea to Moore. The Saints went 5-14 on 3rd down and 1-4 in the red zone, both of which need to be improved.

The Defense

The Good: The Saints' defense had flashes early, with quick pressures often to start and finish the game. The defense finished with 5 sacks, without Chase Young, a number they can look to improve upon each week when he comes back. Both linebackers, Demario Davis and Pete Werner, looked poised yet again, making plays all across the field and making good tackles. The safety play by Justin Reid felt noticeable in the run game, as he came up and made tackles throughout the game. Oh, and Alontae Taylor is still that dude in the slot.

The Bad: After the pressures accrued early in the game, in the middle of it, they felt non-existent. It felt as though Kyler had lots of time in the pocket, and that no edge was being set on the run game. For this Saints team to be better than expectations, the pressure needs to be present all game, and they can’t afford not to set the edge. The cornerback play looked iffy at best from everyone not named Alontae Taylor, with the Cardinals attacking both Yiadom and McKinstry when paired against MHJ or McBride.

Special Teams: The only good for this unit is that Kendre Miller, Rashid Shaheed, and Bryan Bresee are still on the roster. Kendre Miller and Rashid Shaheed provide great energy and potential for every kick and punt return, and Bryan Bresee feels built to block field goals. On the other hand, the coverage units on both sides were hit or miss, leading me to question even more the decision to cut JT Gray. Oh, and Blake Grupe pulled a Blake Grupe on a short field goal after being seemingly perfect all preseason and training camp.

Closing and Team MVPs

All in all, this game felt like one the Saints could have easily won if they were more polished on both sides of the ball, something we have been saying for years. The start to the Kellen Moore era has me questioning his decisions, but I’ll give him some time and grace to see if things improve. I shouldn’t feel like the old vets are the only thing providing sparks on a rebuilding team, but today that’s how it felt.

Offensive MVP: Alvin Kamara

Defensive MVP: Cam Jordan

Special Teams MVP: Bryan Bresee

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Vanderbilt - 11, LSU - 3

By David Billiot Jr • March 15, 2026

The big question following LSU’s heartbreaking loss on Friday night was how they would respond. Game 1 was a rollercoaster of emotions, starting with the Tigers scoring first, giving up the lead, Jake Brown crushing a homerun to retake the lead, then the pitching staff collapsing to fall behind 10-4, followed by 8 unanswered runs by LSU, only to be walked off in the 9th inning while being just an out of securing the dramatic comeback victory. Having that happen will test a team mentally under normal circumstances, but considering the timing, it was an even bigger challenge. It happened on the road, in the first game of SEC play, and on the heels of a pretty bad multi-week stretch for the Tigers. LSU was going to need a quick start on Saturday night to regain momentum, but Vanderbilt beat them to it by scoring first while Wyatt Nadeau carved up Jay Johnson’s lineup the first time through the order. The Tigers answered back to tie the game, but as Cooper Moore battled through the early innings, he was also playing with fire. He finally got burned in the 5th inning and things went downhill in a hurry for LSU. Before you knew it, they were down 10-1 and, again, in deep trouble. What was most concerning was Saturday’s results seemed to indicate that what we watched transpire on Friday had more to do with the Commodores choking, rather than the Tigers storming back on their own merit. LSU would go down quietly this time, dropping their first series of conference play. Pitching Cooper Moore entered Saturday coming off of his worst start of the season thus far. It wasn’t bad last week, but it was a far cry from his first three. He looked good early against Vanderbilt, breezing 1-2-3 through the 1st inning. Despite getting in to early trouble in the 2nd, Moore battled out of a 2nd and 3rd with 0 outs situation by only allowing 1 run. That was a massive win in the moment. The leadoff hitter got on base in the 3rd, but, again, he fought through it and didn’t allow the baserunner past 2nd base. We saw more of the same in the 4th, as the inning started with an infield hit, a single, then the chopper that bounced high over Zach Yorke’s head and rolled down the 1st baseline to give Vanderbilt a 2-1 and, once again, put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 0 outs. Moore struck out Ryker Waite, who came in to the series with a .560 on base percentage. Then, thanks to the magician that LSU has playing shortstop, a double play ended yet another big threat. Korbin Reynolds hit a laser right at Steven Milam, who was playing on the grass with the infield in. The ball go on to Milam so quickly, he had to fall backwards to catch it, but his impeccable reaction time somehow allowed him to snag the ball, fall to his butt, and toss it Trent Caraway at 3rd base. Unfortunately for Moore, the trouble would catch up to him in the 5th, though. A four pitch walk to the Commodores 9-hole hitter was the omen of bad things to come, as that was followed with a perfect sacrifice bunt attempt that no one fielded as they hoped it would roll foul, and then another single loaded the bases with 0 outs and Moore’s night was over. The first inning was the only inning that he was able to pitch from the windup, as the leadoff hitter was on base for the next four innings. Despite the talent of starting pitchers, that will forever be tough to overcome, especially against good teams. Final line: 4.0 IP / 7 hits / 5 runs / 4 Ks / 2 BBs / 79 pitches (48 strikes, 61%) Ethan Plog entered in an impossible situation and promptly got he ball he was hoping for. A high chopper ground ball made Yorke leave his feet, but he snagged it and fired home for the force out attempt. Unfortunately, the throw was poor and Omar Serna was unable to go down and get it, scoring a run and the bases remained loaded with no outs. Plog would then walk a hitter and give up a sacrifice fly, pushing Vanderbilt’s lead to 5-1. Chris Maldonado then stepped to the plate to pinch hit and blasted a 3 run homerun over Derek Curiel’s leaping attempt in dead center and the Commodores had blowing things open with 6 run 5th inning. Plog has been fantastic, but that’s where his first SEC appearance would come to an end. Final line: .1 IP / 1 hit / 3 runs / 0 K / 2 BBs Freshman Zion Theophilus was called upon to try and finish off the disaster of an inning for LSU pitching and he did just that, recording a strikeout and a flyout to end the 5th. Back for the 6th, he recorded the leadoff hitter for the first time since the 1st inning, but was unable to record another out after that. He then issued 3 walks (1 intentional) and a hit by pitch and his day was done. Final line: 1.0 IP / 0 hits / 2 runs / 1 K / 3 BBs From one high promise freshman pitcher to another, Reagan Ricken entered with the bases loaded and 1 out. He did exactly what Jay Johnon called upon him to do, drawing a ground ball to record an out and striking out Waite looking to keep the damage from getting worse. Even though a run scored on the groundout, LSU pitchers have struggled to simply record outs in some of these tough spots, which allows things to get worse and worse, much like we saw in the 5th. Ricken returned for the 7th and despite allowing a solo homerun and 2 two out walks, was able to navigate through the entire inning and get out of trouble. Ricken continues to flash plenty of traits to very excited about as he grows as a Tiger. Final line: 1.2 IP / 1 hit / 1 run / 2 Ks / 2 BBs With LSU down 11-3 and the tensity of the moment being low, Jay Johnson inserted Marcos Paz for the 8th inning in a great spot to get his feet wet. As he continues to come back from Tommy John surgery, he’s flashed his talent that made him a possible draft risk, while also battling through rust. In his first SEC appearance, he looked fantastic. Despite a walk, Paz struck out the side, including Maldonado that hit the big homerun earlier. Final line: 1.0 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 3 Ks / 1 BB Hitting There isn’t a lot of offensive production to get to, so this will be quick. Steven Milam followed up his 3 hit performance on Friday with a 1-4 game, including a fantastic piece of opposite field hitting for a double. Derek Curiel, Cade Arrambide, and Omar Serna each had a single hit, to give you the 4 total LSU hits. Arrambide’s was a double and Serna’s was a 2 run single that brought his RBI total for the week up to 6. Jake Brown entered the game with only 9 strikeouts so far this season, but Nadeau’s stuff was so good, he was able to get LSU’s offensive MVP twice. Brown did draw 2 walks, finishing the night 0-2. Up Next LSU and Vanderbilt will wrap up SEC opening weekend tomorrow. First pitch will be at 3 pm central. William Schmidt will take the mound for the Tigers as they look to avoid being swept on SEC opening weekend for the first time since 2006 when Arkansas took three in Alex Box during Smoke Laval’s final season. The Tigers have fallen to 13-7, which matches Vanderbilt’s record after back to back wins to start the series. The Commodores will send Nate Taylor to the mound on Sunday, who has started all four Sundays for them this season. Taylor has a record of 0-3 with a 4.91 ERA. His batting average against is the highest of any of the top Vanderbilt pitchers that LSU has seen so far at .242. Taylor has given up 12 runs in 18.1 innings of work, so the opportunities for the Tiger offense to get back on track could be there.

Vanderbilt - 13, LSU - 12

By David Billiot Jr • March 14, 2026

Gut-wrenching. There’s no other way to put it. LSU fought all the way back from a 10-4 deficit to have the game ripped from them at the very last second. They say that the 27th out in baseball is the hardest one to get and tonight, we saw why. If you told Jay Johnson that he could be in that situation with the tying run at 3rd base with 2 outs in the 9th inning and Gavin Guidry on the mound, I can guarantee you that he’d take that scenario 10 out of 10 times. In majority of those times, it would work in the Tiger’s favor, too. Not tonight. Sometimes you have to tip the cap to the other team for making the necessary plays and that’s what happened in the final inning on Friday night. Vanderbilt earned their victory. Not without some help from the LSU pitching staff early in the game, but when it mattered most, the Commadores stepped up. Although we learned a lot about the resilience of the Tigers in game 1 with their willingness to to fight back, we will learn even more about their ability to rebound from a tough loss. There were plenty of silver linings despite the L, which could be huge for the future success of this LSU team. Pitching Casan Evans had been on a steady upwards trajectory with his transition from ace bullpen piece to Friday night ace. That trend hit a brick wall tonight. Despite having a lead before stepping on to the mound, Evans was way off from his very first pitch. He walked 3 of the first 4 hitters of the game. Though he was able to strike out two, a two out 2-run single flipped the scoreboard to give Vanderbilt a 2-1 lead. The offense retook the lead, but the struggles remained as the LSU ace gave up another run in the 2nd on walk and a couple of singles. It was more of the same in the 3rd, as Evans continued to battle control problems, allowing another 2 runs on only 1 hit. The free passes were a haunting presence for his entire outing. Surprisingly, he returned for the 4th having already thrown 82 pitches. He’d finish with 83, though, as Braden Holcomb would blast a solo homerun to right center and that would be the end of the night for Casan Evans. Final line: 3.0 IP / 5 hits / 6 runs / 5 Ks / 5 BBs / 1 HBP / 83 pitches (46 strikes, 55%) The expectations for Cooper Williams were high coming in to his sophomore season, but he has failed to come even close to them, so far. That continued tonight when he relieved Casan Evans in the 4th inning. He entered with no one out in the inning, but failed to record an out. Williams walked the bases loaded and then started the next hitter with back to back balls and Jay had seen enough. Williams desperately needs to figure it out. Final line: 0.0 IP / 0 hits / 4 runs / 0 Ks / 4 BBs Jaden Noot inherited the 2-0 count from Williams and promptly allowed the walk with a few more pitches out of the zone. He followed with back to back outs to get close to being out of the inning, but another walk, then a 2 run single, followed by yet another walk would allow Vanderbilt to extend their lead to 10-4 and that would be all for Noot. Final line: .2 IP / 1 hit / 0 runs / 1 K / 2 BB Although it’s fairly subjective, it’s safe to say that Zac Cowan has been the most disappointing pitcher on LSU’s staff thus far in 2026. Considering how dominant he was for almost all of his 2025 season, the coaching staff had high hopes that they were bringing back a pitcher that could be trusted against anyone on the schedule. With the way some of Cowan’s outings had gone through the first four weeks of the season, he was borderline unable to be trusted against anyone. That changed Friday night. He was marvelous. Looking like the rock solid bullpen piece from a year ago, Cowan mowed through the Commadores lineup, allowing just one baserunner. One single was all that he allowed, while striking out 5 and throwing 73% strikes. As much credit as the offense deserves for fighting back in this game, Cowan deserves just as much for stabilizing things for the staff and allowing the bats to go to work. Final line: 3.1 IP / 1 hit / 0 runs / 5 Ks / 0 BBs Once the Tigers took the lead in the top of the 8th, Jay Johnson turned to Gavin Guidry. The argument could be heard that Cowan may have had more in the tank as he was rolling strong, but we’ve seen Guidry come in to close the final 6 outs of a ballgame before. It’s almost never the wrong move to put the game in his hands. At first, he was proving why. He went 3 up, 3 down in the 8th while striking out two hitters looking. But as I said in the beginning, sometimes you have to tip your cap to the opponent and admit that they beat you. In the 9th, Vanderbilt recorded back to back singles to start the inning. A passed ball then allowed both runners to advance, putting the tying run at 2nd base in a 12-10 ballgame. Guidry was able to record an out, although it was a sacrifice fly that drew the Commadores within a run and top hitter Braden Holcomb coming to the plate. Guidry painted a perfectly executed slider on the outside corner to freeze Holcomb for the second out of the inning, putting LSU just an out away from the comeback win. Unfortunately, an 0-1 slider to Logan Johnstone hung up just a little and the ball took flight in to right center to give Vanderbilt a walk off victory. Guidry just got beat. Plain and simple. Final line: 1.2 IP / 3 hits / 3 runs / 3 Ks / 0 BBs Hitting Moving up in to the leadoff role, Steven Milam acted like he belonged there. He recorded hits in his first three at bats, leading to a 3-6 day with 3 runs scored. Milam has been hitting the ball hard, severely lowering his strikeout rate from 2025. His lone strikeout tonight was only his 4th of the season, showing why concerns of his performance have been largely overblown. This spot for Jake Brown might as well be written in permanent marker at this point. He finds his way on to the top offensive performer list ever single game and he is year yet again. The 3 run homerun in the 2nd seemed like the perfect opportunity for Casan Evans to settle in and roll, but as we know, the offense would be relied upon for even more. Brown’s final line was 3-5 with 3 RBI, 2 runs scored, a walk, the homerun, and also a double. His third hit came on a beautifully executed drag bunt in the 8th inning, helping get the rally together that eventually took the lead. Derek Curiel moved down to third in the order with Milam swapping to leadoff. Curiel has been LSU’s best hitter not named Jake Brown and he continued that on Friday. It doesn’t matter where he hits in the lineup, he’s going to just simply…hit. He finished 2-4, which included the 2 run double over the center fielder’s head to pull LSU within a run with a 10-9 deficit. He finished with 3 RBI, 2 runs scored, and also walked. Cade Arrambide has gone through the bumps on the road as he adjusts to being the primary starting catcher. Both offensively and defensively, LSU has needed him to be better. He was just that on Friday night. His defense was solid, blocking up multiple pitches in the dirt. His 2-4 line with 2 runs scored and a walk further boosted his bounce back game from a rough week or two. Seth Dardar didn’t get the start, but he entered as a pinch hitter in the 5th inning for Brayden Simpson and delivered what I would say was the biggest swing of the night for the Tigers. With the bases loaded and 2 outs in the 5th, Connor Fennell was very close from escaping without damage, but Dardar ripped a base-clearing double to drive in 3 runs and cut LSU’s deficit in half to 10-7. If he doesn’t come through in that moment, who knows how the rest of the night would have went for the Tigers. He finished 1-3 with that double and the 3 RBI. Zach Yorke entered the game with a 4 game hitting streak that started in game 1 against Sacramento St. That streak came to an end on Friday, but he did draw 3 walks, which led to a .600 on base percentage. Last, but certainly not least, is Chris Stanfield, who provided the much needed spark that the lineup had been missing in his absence. In that 9-hole spot in the bottom of the order, his ability to find his way on base is invaluable. He is, essentially, a second lead off hitter. His biggest value in that spot is to be a table setter for the table setters in the top of the lineup and that’s exactly what he did Friday in his first start since opening weekend. Stanfield was 2-4 with a couple of singles, while drawing a walk and scoring twice. Up Next LSU will be faced with the enormous task of bouncing back from that heart breaking loss to try and win the next two games and head back to Baton Rouge with an opening SEC weekend series win. The loss dropped the Tigers to 13-6. Cooper Moore (3-1) will take the mound on Saturday with the goal to go deeper in the game and compete to give his team the best chance to win. Vanderbilt improved to 12-7 on the season and will send Wyatt Nadeau to the mound on Saturday night. Nadeau has made 4 appearances thus far, with last Saturday being his only start. He is filling in for Austin Nye in the weekend rotation, who is injured. First pitch between LSU and Vanderbilt will be for 7 pm central on Saturday night.