Falcons 101: Green Bay Packers series history

In a series that has spanned 50 years, the Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers have played 30 games, including a few postseason games in the last 20 years. This series is one of the longest series in the history of the Falcons franchise, and has become one of the premier matchups in the last five years or so. Let’s take a quick look into the matchups between these two teams.

Overall series records

The Packers lead the series by four games, 17-13. In the 30 games played, the Packers have had winning streaks of five games—the first five games of the series—and a winning streak of four games—the last four games of the series.

Atlanta has won three games in a row once back in the early 1970s, but they have not been able to string together any more victories than that throughout the series. In the 14 games played at home, in Atlanta, the Falcons have won eight games by a total of 79 points—an average margin of victory of 9.87 in home games. However, if the Falcons lose at home, they lose big: the Packers have won six games in Atlanta by a total of 104 points—an average margin of victory of 17.3 points.

New faces, old outcomes

Mike McCarthy and Matt Ryan both participated in their first game of this series on October 5, 2008 when the Falcons beat the Packers 27-24 in Green Bay. That win is one of the two victories Atlanta has since McCarthy took over in Green Bay. Of the six games played since his arrival, the Packers have won four, including that infamous 48-21 blowout in the playoffs to end Atlanta’s 2010 campaign.

Aaron Rodgers has played in five of those games and has won three of them. In the regular season, Rodgers has completed nearly 70% of his passes and has thrown nine touchdowns with only one interception (!!). Matt Ryan has completed just under 65% of his passes with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions, so it is obvious that Rodgers has bested Ryan thus far.

Largest win, largest loss

Atlanta’s largest win came in the third game of the series when they beat the Packers 38-7 in Atlanta on Oct. 6, 1968. Since Ryan arrived in Atlanta, the Falcons won both of those games by three points a piece.

Green Bay’s largest win came in the first game of the series when they beat the Falcons by 53 points, 56-3. Since McCarthy got to Green Bay, the largest loss for Atlanta is the 48-21 playoff loss at home—this is the last time I’m mentioning it, I promise.

Series quick-hitters

• Once again, this is Dan Quinn’s first time matching up against the Packers as a head coach. As a defensive coordinator in Seattle, Dan Quinn was 2-0 against the Packers—both of which came in 2014.
• This will obviously be the last time the Packers play in the Georgia Dome, where they have won three out of five games played.
• The Falcons have only won four games in the last 20 years—something the team definitely wants to change, starting Sunday.
• Last time the two teams played, the Packers won 43-37 on Monday Night Football, but Julio Jones racked up 259 yards in an impressive performance.

The Falcons and the Packers play their 31st game of the series this Sunday at 4:25 p.m. EST. You can catch the game on FOX and listen to it at 92.9 The Game in Atlanta. The Falcons are favored by three points at the moment.

Do you see the Falcons bucking their trend of losing to the Packers?

All stats and data are from pro-football-reference.com.