A strong finish from the Arizona Cardinals has given the NFC West side a 31-19 win over the New Orleans Saints in their opening game of the 2015 NFL season.

The home side opened the scoring on the first drive of the day as Carson Palmer scrambled outside the pocket before spotting John Brown in space, throwing to the receiver at the corner of the endzone.

Brandin Cooks tried to get the Saints into a scoring position down the other end, but they were unable to respond with a touchdown of their own, settling with a Zach Hocker field goal.

The Cardinals continued to look strong on offense in the early stages, allowing Ellington to leap over the defensive line for a rushing score, but Brandon Coleman marked his debut with a diving catch in the corner of the endzone soon after to keep the Saints in contention at half time.

Drew Brees tried to get the Saints offense moving early in the third quarter, but they came up short of the endzone again, leaving Hocker to add another three points with the boot and put the Saints just a point adrift.

Arizona got the ball back, with Chris Johnson making a couple of runs down the sideline, before Palmer got it to Darren Fells at the back of the endzone, leaving New Orleans needing to score twice inside the final couple of minutes.

Brees went for a couple of deep passes to Marques Colston as the Saints quarterback desperately tried to get a quick score on the board, but they were unable to get the first down.

Arizona ended any chances of the Saints coming from behind late on on their next drive, as Palmer completed a short pass to rookie David Johnson, leaving the wide receiver to sprint down the right sideline for a 55-yard score.