Falcons 101: Cardinals series history

In a series that goes back 50 years and has been played in St. Louis, Arizona and Atlanta, the Arizona Cardinals have essentially owned this series. This is one of the more storied series that the Falcons have with a team outside of their current division, and it always seems to be an exciting matchup no matter where it is played. Since there is so much to cover and it would take a while to do so, I’ll give you the highlights.

Overall records

Since 1966, the Atlanta Falcons have struggled to consistently beat the Cardinals, whether they are in St. Louis or Arizona. In this 50 year series, the Falcons have a record of 13-16 in the 29 games played.

While the records are close, only separated by three games, the Falcons can’t seem to win more than two or three in a row, and Arizona has winning streaks of four and five games throughout the series.

Biggest win, biggest loss

I didn’t need the internets to know what the biggest win for the Falcons was in this series: Sep. 19, 2010 when Atlanta throttled Arizona 41-7 in the Dome. In what was an otherwise bleak season, that game was an extremely welcomed bright spot that no one saw coming.

Now, the biggest loss is a different story, clearly. I had to go all the way back to Dec. 9, 1973 when the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Falcons 32-10. This highlights an interesting note on this series: when the Falcons win, they tend to win big, but when the Cardinals win, it is much closer and a lot lower-scoring. This week definitely shapes up to follow that trend.

Recent developments

Matt Ryan has a 3-1 record versus the Cardinals, including the 30-24 loss in the playoffs at the end of his rookie season. In those four games, Ryan has struggled, completing about 63percent of his passes but throwing 10 interceptions and only six touchdowns. He has thrown ten interceptions in four games? Don’t forget that terrible five-interception game in 2012 and the four-interception game a year after that—actually, let’s all forget those.

Series quick-hitters

• Dan Quinn has yet to coach against the Cardinals as a head coach, but he has plenty of familiarity with the franchise from his time in Seattle.
• Carson Palmer is 1-3 against Atlanta in his career with a 70 percent completion percentage and eight touchdowns to two interceptions.
• Atlanta has an 11-6 record at home in this series.
• The last game these two teams played was in 2014 when the Falcons beat the Cardinals 29-18 in Atlanta.

How do you see this one turning out on Sunday?

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