The rivalry began in 1967, the Saints' first season. The teams were in different divisions. The Saints were in the Capital Division and the Falcons were in the Coastal division. The Saints won that first meeting 27-24 and didn't beat the Falcons again until 1974 four years after both teams moved to the NFC West. In that season, the Saints swept the season series for the first time. However, from 1967-82, the Falcons owned the series 20-8.
New Orleans began to win some games in the series in the 1980's. Between 1980 and 1990, the Saints are 10-9 in the series. Atlanta roared back in the 1990's going 14-7 against the Saints. including a 1991 playoff win. Since 2000, the Saints have dominated the series 16-8, but the Falcons still lead the overall series 46-40.
There have been some memorable games in the series, including a 62-7 drubbing by the Falcons over the Saints on opening day in 1973.
In 1978, the Saints were leading at home 17-13 with only seconds left in the game. Steve Bartkowski threw a long desperation pass of 57 yards to Alfred Jackson, who caught it over CB Maurice Spencer and ran it in for the winning touchdown 20-17. No longtime Saints or Falcons fan can forget the Big Ben play.
On opening day 1979, the Saints and Falcons played an exciting game, which went to overtime, the first one in the series. Early in the overtime period, the Saints were about to punt. Center Jim Pietrzak hiked the ball way over punter Russell Erxleben's head and landed near the goal line. Erxleben recovered and tried to throw the ball, but it ended up only going a few yards and landing in the hands of Falcons special teamer James Mayberry, who ran it in for the winning score 40-34.
They Saints and Falcons even met in the playoffs. In the 1991 wild card round, in a back an forth game, the score was tied in the fourth quarter 20-20. In true rivalry fashion, Chris Miller threw a 61 yard touchdown pass to Michael Haynes to win the game 27-20.
How about 2003, when both teams recently moved to their current division, the NFC South. Atlanta led the Saints at halftime 20-3. The Saints came back and sent the game to overtime. In the overtime period, John Carney kicked the winning field goal for New Orleans 23-20.
And who can forget the heroics of Steve Gleason in 2006. This play marked a turning point in Saints history when, in their first game in the Superdome since Hurricane Katrina, Gleason blocked a Michael Koenen punt and Curtis DeLoach recovered the ball in the end zone. The Saints went on to win that game 23-3.
Now let's get down to some series trivia. As previously stated, Atlanta leads the series 46-40, but the Saints are 10-2 against the Falcons since 2006. The highest scoring game in the series was that opening day game in 1979. They have played in overtime six times, which the Falcons lead 4-2. The last time New Orleans shut out Atlanta was 38-0 in 1987. The last time Atlanta shut out New Orleans was 35-0 in 1982.
For us Saints and Falcons fans, this is the greatest rivalry in pro football. We've only covered a few of the great moments and great games in the history of the series. Let's hope the 2012 season will provide more lore to this storied rivalry.
Here are some historical scores for teams playing each other this week, November 9:
1958 Los Angeles Rams 56 - San Francisco 7
1969 Los Angeles Rams 41 - San Francisco 30
1975 San Francisco 24 - Los Angeles Rams 23
1980 Minnesota 34 - Detroit 0
1986 Minnesota 24 - Detroit 10
1987 New York Jets 30 - Seattle 14
1997 New England 31 - Buffalo 10
1997 Denver 34 - Carolina 0
2003 Tennessee 31 - Miami 7
2003 Jacksonville 28 - Indianapolis 23
2008 New England 20 - Buffalo 10
2008 Atlanta 34 - New Orleans 20
Here's some lagniappe: Today in 2002, while trailing Kentucky 30-27 with only two seconds left in the game and on their own 26 yard line, LSU pulled off the Bluegrass Miracle. I claim no ownership to the rights of the video.
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