Falcons 2016 schedule preview: Week 17 brings one final game against the Saints

Where will the Falcons be in Week 17 of this season? Will they be winding down a successful, playoff-bound season, trying to put a positive spin on a non-playoff finish, or limping across the finish line?

No matter what the answer will be—and make no mistake, we don’t have a clue at this point—the Falcons will get to cap off their season with a chance to beat the Saints. Since we all hate the Saints, that will be welcome.

We took a look at the team’s offseason earlier this summer, so now is an excellent time to instead consider the series history between these two bitter rivals. While that series has tightened a lot over the last decade, thanks to Sean Payton and the Saints regularly outplaying our beloved birds, the Falcons still lead 49-45 all-time, and won the only playoff game these two teams met up in, the 1991 triumph that more or less sparked my life as an Atlanta fan.

With any luck, that’ll be 51-45 by the end of this season. Hopefully the Falcons are talented enough to make that math work.