The New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons are about to start their next chapter of their rivalry, but it’s important to remember who’s the big brother.
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In 2012, the New Orleans Saints had a mediocre season, finishing the year 7-9. That same season, the Atlanta Falcons had a phenomenal year, going 13-3. However, when the two teams met in Week 10 of that season, the struggling New Orleans gave Atlanta its first loss of the season.
Following the game, Saints linebacker Scott Shanle gave everyone an important reminder, telling the media New Orleans still owns Atlanta, and that the Falcons are like the Saints’ little brother.
Over a decade later, that remains the case. As the Saints and the Falcons prepare for their first matchup of the 2024 season, it’s important Atlanta remembers its place as the little brother.
Saints have dominated the Falcons in recent years
Entering the Week 4 matchup between the two teams, the all-time series is actually tied at 55-55. However, that’s a bit deceiving, because most of Atlanta’s wins came during ancient times. In the last five seasons, New Orleans is 7-3 against the Falcons.
Since the 2000 season, the Saints are 31-17 against Atlanta, approaching 25 seasons of dominance against their rival. That’s just head-to-head, though. In that same timeframe, New Orleans has won eight division championships, while the Falcons have only won four. The Saints also won a Super Bowl, and all Atlanta did was have the most embarrassing Super Bowl loss ever.
No moment captured the big brother-little brother relationship better than the last meeting between these two teams. In Week 18 of the 2023 season, the Saints, without many of their best players, embarrassed the Falcons, winning 48-17. The game infamously included a late touchdown run from New Orleans, after faking as if it would kneel out the clock. In true little brother fashion, the Falcons cried about how bad they were beat.
Now, after an offseason of upgrades, Atlanta is trying to meet the hype it received all offseason, and the Saints are preparing to remind Atlanta the Falcons are still just a little brother.
