Penalties haunted Saints in the first half vs. Cardinals

Officials attended a trio of New Orleans Saints training camp practices. Still, the team struggled with discipline in their preseason debut. Bill Vinovich happened to be refereeing his first Saints game in years.

In just the first half, New Orleans committed seven infractions for 45 yards. The Arizona Cardinals, comparatively, only had two penalties for 15 yards.

Penalties have impacted the Saints on both offense and defense, but the offense has been the guilty party more times than not. The offense is responsible for four of the seven penalties. This has led to a jerky start.

The fourth drive of the game was arguably the worst drive of their game in relation to penalties. After converting on a third down and a fourth down on the drive, left guard Olisaemeka Udoh drew a holding call on first and 10. Immediately after Udoh committed a false start. Just like that, the Saints found themselves in a first and 25. A promising drive was now stalled by penalties.

The Saints gained 7 yards before having to punt. They couldn’t even get the punt off without another false start.

Here’s to shaking off the rust through the rest of the preseason.