Arizona Cardinals: 5 reasons to ignore preseason

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Sep 13, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer (3) throws during the first half against the New Orleans Saints at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

The kicking game:

Kicker Chandler Catanzaro struggled in the preseason with both extra points and field goals. He was a different kicker on Sunday. He hit all four of his extra points and made his only field goal attempt from 43 yards.

A lot was made of the new 33-yard extra point attempt in the preseason and some kickers did struggle. It was brought up time and time again on Sunday in numerous games. It was no big deal for Catanzaro against the Saints.

Carson Palmer:

Some thought he struggled mightily in the preseason. Sure, he could have been better. Again, he was returning from a major injury and likely there was some trepidation there. There also was some timing issues in August with receivers. Palmer missed on a few on Sunday but he seemed to be on the page with his receivers all day.

He was 19-32 and could have been better but even some of his misses were just misses. Not all his fault, some, but not all certainly. He looked like the Palmer of old and a player ready to lead his team to something special.

Punting:

Punter Drew Butler won the job over Dave Zastudil and it was a competition that coach Bruce Arians called not close. Many questioned that move, particularly because of his performance in the playoffs last season.

His average on Sunday was just 39.8 yards per punt. His long was 47 yards. However he made the punt of the day late in the game when he was able to place a punt inside the Saints five yard line, a hole the Saints could not dig out of and had to punt back to the Cardinals. The Cardinals were then able to score a touchdown to put the game away. It is the little things that will win games like that.

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