GLENDALE, Ariz. — Fifteen quarterbacks were selected in the 2010 NFL draft. Max Hall wasn’t one of them.
Six months later, in his debut as an NFL starter, he beat the reigning Super Bowl champions — with some luck and a lot of help from his defense.
The rookie from BYU, optimistically listed at 6-feet-1, survived some brutal hits to complete 17-of 27 passes for 168 yards, and the Arizona Cardinals upset the New Orleans Saints 30-20 on Sunday.
Hall threw an interception that led to an early Saints field goal. He also fumbled twice, but both turned out to be key plays for Arizona (3-2). The first was run 2 yards by Cardinals tackle Levi Brown for a touchdown. Guard Alan Faneca pounced on the other for a 10-yard gain.
It was an uneven performance, but there was no doubt the extremely confident and ultra-competitive Hall earned the respect of his team.
“I need to fix my mistakes,” he said, “but I think those guys trust me and I think when they look at me they know we have a chance to win.”
Cardinals linebackers Paris Lenon and Joey Porter used the same phrase to describe their new starting quarterback: “just a tough little guy.”
Arizona’s defense, awful in a 41-10 loss at San Diego a week earlier, “deserves all the credit” for the win, Hall said.
The Cardinals intercepted Drew Brees three times and converted two turnovers by the Saints (3-2) into touchdowns. He had been picked off just twice in the first four games.
The Cardinals’ Kerry Rhodes returned Ladell Betts’ fumble 27 yards for a score and, with 10 seconds to play, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie returned an interception 28 yards for the clinching TD.
“We finally put a good effort together,” Rhodes said. “It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t pretty at times for us, but we played as complete a game as we’ve played so far.”
New Orleans outgained the Cardinals 358-194, but couldn’t overcome four turnovers.
Brees, who entered the game completing an NFL-best 74 percent of his passes with just two interceptions, threw for two touchdowns.
His 35-yard TD pass to Robert Meachem cut Arizona’s lead to 23-20 with 1:49 left. Larry Fitzgerald, who caught seven passes for 93 yards, recovered the subsequent onside kick for Arizona.
