Falcons vs. Saints: a quick look at the series history

The Falcons don’t have to win tomorrow. Even if the NFL expands its playoffs, the Falcons would likely need to win out and have some teams with better records go completely off the rails down the stretch in order to secure a playoff berth. So, in short, it’s not happening.

But that doesn’t mean beating the brakes off the Saints wouldn’t feel amazing, because let’s be honest, it would. Let’s take another look at the history of this series before kickoff tomorrow.

The Falcons currently lead this series, 53-50. They split their games against the Saints last season and lost their first matchup of the year against Sean Payton’s squad last month. So no matter what happens tomorrow, let’s all take solace in this fun fact: Even if this season gets worse because the Saints kick our butts twice in 3 weeks, they still won’t lead the series by the end of the year. So ... we win! (It’s the small things, right?)

The Saints have had our number over the last few years, winning 5 of the last 6 matchups, including a 24-9 victory in New Orleans last month. That game was a particularly frustrating one, as Taysom “Not a Quarterback” Hill ran all over the Falcons defense. Let’s hope a repeat performance is not in the cards, but nothing is guaranteed

The first time these teams played was nearly 53 years ago on November 26, 1967. The Saints won that game, 27-24. Tommy McDonald caught a 32 touchdown pass from running back Perry Lee Dunn in front of over 83,000 fans that day.

Your thoughts about the series history, Falcoholics?