The Falcons-Saints rivalry may not have the national cache of some other rivalries in the NFL but don’t tell that to either team or the fan bases in both cities. Each team’s fans circle the two dates on the calendar and prepare accordingly. Travel plans are made early to visit each others towns and walk the streets the night before donning team gear to show their support. Players on both sides feel the intensity of this crucial Division game. And it’s been that way since they first squared off in 1967.
This yearly battle has had its share of close games and blow outs. T here have been 43 games decided by eight points or less in this long standing series. The Falcons beat the Saints 62-7 in 1973 in New Orleans in their widest margin of victory ever in a single-game in team history. The Saints handed the Falcons a 38-0 defeat in 1987 in Atlanta. It doesn’t matter where the games are played between these traditional Southern towns. More often than not these contests always seem to be filled with intrigue and no shortage of drama (especially in the month of November).
On November 12, 1978, the birds of strong-armed QB Steve Bartkowski trailed the Saints in New Orleans 17-6 with 2:23 remaining and the ball on their own 20-yard line. Bart methodically marches the Falcons 80 yards in 12 plays, culminating in a RB Haskel Stanback one-yard touchdown burst around right end to close the gap to 17-13 with :59 ticks left. Atlanta tries an onsides kick but it fails and the Saints take over at their 49 to apparently run out the clock and claim the win. Not so fast my friend (as College GameDay’s Lee Corso says).
New Orleans decides to go for it on 4th and 2 at the Atlanta 43-yard line. But RB Chuck Muncie is stuffed by DL Jeff Yeates and the Falcons take over for one more play with :19 seconds left. Bartkowski drops back and launches one of his famous long balls with so much trajectory that it would have probably hit the scoreboard in the middle of new Cowboys Stadium. The ball was intended for WR Wallace Francis but it is hit up in the air by Saints defenders and lands in the arms of fellow WR Alfred Jackson. Jackson runs untouched into the end zone for the unlikely winning score. The historical pass was the first “Big Ben Right” play called in team history.
On November 24, 1991, the Falcons overcame a 10-point deficit in the last two minutes to send the game into overtime in an exciting national television match-up on ESPN. A 54-yard completion from QB Chris Miller to WR Michael Haynes sets up a 50-yard game winning boot in the OT from K Norm Johnson before ESPN’s largest TV audience of the season.
These two games illustrate the close competitiveness between the arch rivals and how the games are never seemingly over until the clock strikes zero.
This 80th meeting on Monday night between these two long-time combatants and Division foes is shaping up to be another wild affair in November on Monday Night Football in the party backdrop of the “Big Easy”. But there is nothing easy when it comes to this rivalry for either team.
32 Comments
Go Falcons!! Knock em in the mouth!
I aint jumpin off the bandwagon cause i was never on it……I am the bandwagon GOOOOOO FALCONS!!!!!!!!!!!!
GET THEM SAINTS!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO FALCONS!!!!!!!!!!!!
LET’S GO FALCONS!!!
LET’s GO FALCONS!!
Saint’s 35-24! Saints are gonna cook those dirty birds!
we need to watch jus as much film on da dolphins as we do the saints! jus 2 find out wat the hell they did to cause so many problems in the passing game with their young corners! i kno miami loss the game but it was because of an offensive collapse the entire game brees was looking very human! we should play a little copycat come monday nite defensively and offensively we need to do wat our offense does best( no-huddle o & tony gonzalez/turner/white) and we should win! they cant matchup defensively with our offense! go birds!!!!!!!!!! redemption!!!!!!!
Atlanta, defense is suspect at best. U saw what the Cowboys did to them; how bout the #1 scoring offense in the league!! Better luck WK#9 against the Redskins! GAME OVA ATL!!!!
Who dat is that guy who will be watching us destroy his team. In their own house…. Falcons will be victorious.
Probably the most intense rivalry in the NFL.
Saints willl win this one.
I hope they underestimate us. We have a better offense if we can get em on the same page. Hey Roddy, go long!!!!
The saints aint gonna win, just because this is there only ever good year since arron brooks. the new poorlin aints is gonna lose to our way better team. just imagine what we are going to do to you. we beat you guys at our worse. we will destroy you now. !!!!!!!!!!! lets go falcons!!!!!!!!!! We own them! thats who.
Coming from a Colts fan, I think the Saints will win. They are clearly the better team by a wide margin. But they’re not as good as my Colts.
The thing about being undefeated is that you gotta lose sometime might as well be against us.
We are gonna destroy New Orleans worse than hurricane Katrina…go birds…
“Who Dat Say they gone to be those Saints” not atlanta for sure, They where embarrassed before by them in the national spot light, and will happen again. Atlanta was not a good football team since they lost that New Orleans Cajun guy Hebert (quarterback) SO get real atlanta fans and shut-up already… Go Giants!
Ya’ll couldn’t beat the Cowboys, how are ya’ll even going to beat my Saints.
It’s going to be another double digit win.
Geaux Saints
we havent lost back to back games since sometime in 07. Thats as big of an advantage we got. Let the best db’s play, protect matt so he can distribute the ball effectively, and hope the run game is well spread so turner it’d targeted. Special teams make a couple plays, limit to >1 turnover and we may “be dat” team to hand the saints they first L. GO Falcons
we need to see more imagination on play callin. like the flea flicker i saw. if we lose a game at least let it be cause were blitzin like no tommorow. i hate seein other teams throw all over us and were only pressuring with 4. that just shows we suck. fuck protection just blitz the shit out of em an hurt someone. give us somethin to cheer about. f i see one more call to punt it away on 4th an 1 especially if we are down im gonna flip out. we always lose those games if u havent noticed. thomas dimtroff should know this. he came from new england, he knows how bellicheck plays
@Born and Raised Down Here
IT’S GONNA BE DIRTY BIRD GUMBO MONDAY NIGHT!!
SAINTS 45 DIRTY BIRDS 10
@miloway9020
Nobody wants to see anybody hurt. Thats how you got that name. Nothing to reval in.
@RICK
Don’t be to sure about, the Saints are a very talented team this year, they are not 6 and 0 for nothing. I don’t believe the team or fans will just let the dirty birds come into their house and beat them. Of course anything can happen but for that to happen everyone on the team will have to be tied up, blind fold and gagged. Atlanta plays dirty ball and their fans are not friendly at all.
Hello Falcons fans. Next home game coming up the Falcons will play the Washington Redskins. I ask all of you not to harrass the Redskins fan, it’s all right to give them the thumbs down and a few boos, but don’t cross the line, Georgia is better than that. I went to the Cowboys game (alone) this past Sunday and everthing was just fine until half time, and that’s when it turned sour fast. To make a long story short, I shove one guy into a cocktail table because he tried to tare apart my banner and nearly got into 2 other fights, but they were too scared to take it outside, I guess the cowards are big in Texas also. Please behave yourselves Falcons fans, don’t send them back thinking of us the way I think of Dallas. And if you see this garbage going on, don’t stand there laughing and giggling let the moron know he’s embarrassing us. You don’t have to get into a fight with him, but voice your displeasure, say something like, “Hey buddy, you’re making a jerk out of yourself and embarrassing the rest of us”. Put him on the spot, there’s nothing worse than having your own peers coming down against you, and if he will not stop, call security. You might be right by thinking if the situation was reversed they would do it to us, but that doesn’t justify it, people should not be treated that way. And yes, that includes Saints fans. Thank-you Georgia, I know you will do the right thing. Don (by the grace of God, I was born in Georgia)
Go Falcons! We have a hard game ahead. The Saints are a very good team…probably one of the best in the whole NFL. But…ANY GIVEN SUNDAY err… MONDAY NIGHT EVEN
gonna hand N.O. their first lost of season!
THIS ONEZ GOING OUT 2 ALL DEM DIE-HARD FALCON FANZ….
BEEN A FALCON FAN FOR 8 YEARZ NOW AND GOING STRONG…
WHO DAT?!..WHO DAT?!..SAID THEY GONNA BEAT DEM SAINTS?…WERE GONNA BEAT DEM SAINTS….GOOOO FALCONZ!!!!!!
HOPE 2 SHUT DREW BREES AND THE NEW ORLEANS OFFENSE DOWN…
AND DISMANTLE THE DEFENSE…AND HANDING THE SAINTS THEIR 1ST LOST….
REPP’N DAT DIRTY SOUTH SIDE!!!…
GO FALCONZ!!!
I didn’t see anything in the article about the game after the Saints returned home to the Superdome following Katrina and destroyed the Falcons!!!! Yeah Saints!!!
The Falcons have enough offensive weapons to beat the Saints, but I don’t know if our defense will be able to stop them. But we CAN win! Remember, those of you on the Saints’ bandwagon, football is a game where consistency is extremely important. While the Saints haven’t shown to be inconsistent much yet, they weren’t at the top of their game against the Dolphins. I think the Birds are a better team than the Dolphins, and while it’ll be tough for us to beat them, it’ll also be tough for them to beat us. Good thing is, we know how to bounce back from tough losses. We ain’t scared of the ‘Aints! GO FALCONS!!!
I agree with Miloway902, the Mike Smith has got to grow a pair and start going for those 4th and 1 plays, putting some unpredictably into the play calling and go almost exclusively to the no-huddle offense. And I think they should rev up the no-huddle offense by speeding it up and not standing around at the line for 25 seconds before the snap.
As far as the game Monday night, the line is Saints +11 and unless the Falcons can completely revamp their weak-sauce defense and get some NFL-quality play out of Houston and Grimes, they’ll be lucky not to lose by twice that number.
Come on guys, show us if you’re fo’ real this week and not the same old Foul-kins of old.
Foul-kins now thats funny.I have been a Foul-kins fan for a long time and really only wish not to have a lossing season this year.I am so tired of hearing the back to back thing.Probowl Te,Rb,Wr and rookie of the year Qb its time to man up and play as such!!!!We are a 4 & 2 team on monday play like one!!!The falcons never get respect if thay want it beat N.O. to show that it is deserved.Or hope to limp into the playoffs.At least go 9 & 7 for the fans sake….If not a win I pray for no more injurys season only a 1/3 over #3 wr ,#2 rb 1st rd draft,2nd rd draft and others really all we lack is to have a Lb out or a couple O line men.
What did I tell you Atlanta fans….. You guys played better, but still have a ways to go before you can hang with a team like New Orleans Saints. Don’t worry about it there’s always next week! just understand that the saints are just a much more smarter team then most this year.