Duke vs. Carolina, 'Bama vs. Auburn, OhioColor Rush Patrick Robinson Jersey State vs. Michigan, Ali vs. Frazier, Luke vs. Darth, America vs. U.S.S.R. Those rivalries may only be a minor disagreement compared to the outright hate that has existed between the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons. Saints/Falcons is a feud that transcends sports. A Hatfield-McCoy type of rivalry that divides households, ends friendships, and creates sworn enemies among the two fanbases. New Orleans and Atlanta will meet for the 99th time this afternoon, including one playoff showdown. The Falcons own a 52-46 edge in the series, including a 27-22 advantage in games played in Atlanta, site of today's contest. Normally closely played games with unpredictable results, the Falcons have averaged 22.1 points per game, while the Saints 21.8 in games against each other. New Orleans first year as an NFL franchise was of course 1967, which was only the second year of professional football existence for the Falcons. The first meeting between these two took place on November 26, 1967 in New Orleans, a 27-24 Saints victory. It was the second of just three wins on the year for the new team. The first game in Atlanta between them was December 7, 1969, a 45-17 Saints loss. The Falcons would go on to win the first five contests played in Atlanta between the two, and 12 of the first 14. The first Saints victory on their enemy's home field would not be until October 20, 1974. The New Orleans offense netted 232 yards rushing that day, and a superb defensive effort caused six turnovers and sacked Falcon quarterbacks seven times on their way to a 13-3 victory. Atlanta and New Orleans would become division rivals with the formation of the NFC West division at the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. They would continue to be linked after the league realigned in 2002, forming the NFC South. Neither franchise would have much success early on. The Falcons did not have their first playoff berth until 1978 http://www.authenticsneworleanssaints.com/cheap-wil-lutz-jersey , and have appeared in the postseason 14 times in their history. New Orleans would have to wait until 1987 for their first appearance in the postseason, and have qualified for the playoffs 11 times during their existence. Both teams have six division championships to their credit, including four NFC South titles a piece, when this rivalry took on greater national prominence. Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty ImagesThe Saints-Falcons rivalry greatly intensified in 1978. New Orleans entered week eleven with a 5-5 record and in good position for a playoff push when they hosted the Falcons. With just seconds to play, Atlanta pulled off a miraculous 20-17 victory on ahail mary pass that be called Big Ben Right. Just 14 days later, during the rematch in Atlanta, Falcons quarterback Steve Bartkowski again ripped the heart out of all of New Orleans with another comeback in the waning moments to give his team a win by an identical 20-17 score. The Saints would dominate their rivals between the mid-1980's through mid-1990's, even winning 8 of the 9 games in the Falcons home stadium between 1986-94. Bartkowski was just one of many reviled players or coaches on both sides throughout the series. Names like Alfred Jackson, Jerry Glanville, William Andrews, Tony Gonzalez, Deion Sanders, Brian Jordan, and Roddy White cause Saints fans to taste bile, while Dalton Hilliard, Quinn Early, Jimmy Graham, Steve Gleason, Deuce McAllister, and the entire Dome Patrol could make a Falcons fan curl into a fetal position. Saints Hall of Famers Bobby Hebert, Morten Anderson, and Joe Horn had the audacity to wear the enemy's uniform at one time http://www.authenticsneworleanssaints.com/cheap-terron-armstead-jersey , while Michael Haynes would return home to New Orleans after spending the first part of his career with the Falcons. Another era of Saints/Falcons hate has brought much of the same. New names such as Sean Payton, Cam Jordan, Michael Thomas, Marshon Lattimore, Matt Ryan, Devonta Freeman, Julio Jones, and Deion Jones have drawn the ire of fans on both sides.Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees has been the central figure in these wars since his arrival to the Saints in 2006. Brees is 16-8 against the Falcons since becoming a Saint, including a 7-5 record on the road. While Brees would often make the Falcons secondary his own personal playground, they had some moments when they did get the best of their nemesis. One such moment came during last year's showdown in Atlanta on December 7, 2017. Despite 271 yards passing and two scores, Atlanta's Deion Jones intercepted a Brees end zone pass in the last seconds to preserve a 20-17 win. Another cringe worthy moment for Saints fans came on November 29, 2012. On a Thursday night showdown in Atlanta, the Falcons not only carved out a 23-13 victory, but intercepted Brees five times and held him without a touchdown throw, ending his NFL-record streak of 54 consecutive games with a touchdown pass. Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty ImagesBrees has often had huge statistical games against his rival, and the Saints will likely need another one to win this key match up. New Orleans is still without their Pro Bowl running back Mark Ingram, currently suspended, and has had to rely on the success of the passing game with superstar wideout Michael Thomas and all-purpose stud Alvin Kamara. They will be attacking an injury depleted Atlanta defense missing Jones, pass rusher Takkarist McKinley, and safety Keanu Neal. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has also had some big statistics against the Saints, and will try to match Brees with his own star weapons in wideout in Julio Jones and running back Tevin Coleman. Ryan will also be without a pro bowl back however Color Rush DeMario Davis Jersey , as Devonta Freeman has been ruled out with injury. The improved New Orleans defense has been up and down early this season, but defensive end Cameron Jordan has historically performed well against Atlanta, and they are built to pressure a questionable Falcons front line. Both squads come into this game with 1-1 records, but New Orleans has already dropped a division game with a loss to Tampa Bay in week one. The contest does have the makings of another shootout, but this rivalry has been anything but predictable. The Saints appear to have a defensive advantage over the banged up rival, and Brees is coming off a subpar performance (for him) last week against Cleveland, something he rarely does two weeks in a row. Saints 31Falcons 27 Justin Tucker has won a dozen games for the Baltimore Ravens with his incredibly accurate right foot.This one will be remembered as the one he lost.Tucker missed the first conversion of his career after the Baltimore Ravens scored the potential tying touchdown with 24 seconds left, enabling Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints to escape with a 24-23 victory Sunday.Brees threw two touchdown passes, locked up two more milestones and engineered a fourth-quarter comeback that helped the Saints (5-1) wipe out a 10-point deficit.It was 24-17 before Baltimore's Joe Flacco directed a beat-the-clock drive covering 81 yards and ending with a 14-yard touchdown pass to John Brown.That seemingly set up overtime, given that Tucker is the most accurate kicker in NFL history in terms of field goal percentage. Not only that, but he was 222 for 222 on conversions since breaking into the league in 2012, and was the only NFL kicker without a miss (112 for 112) since the placement of the ball was moved back in 2015.This attempt, however, went wide right 鈥?the deciding moment in a matchup between the NFL's highest-scoring offense and top-ranked defense."I can't tell you exactly what happened," Tucker said, "but at the end of the day I feel like I cost us the game."When the ball sailed right, Tucker looked incredulously at the goalposts , eyes wide and mouth agape."I thought I hit it well," he said. "The ball didn't go through and that's all it needs to do to keep the game going."The Saints were relieved to escape with their fifth straight victory."You're talking about one of the top kickers," coach Sean Payton said. "I'm sure we'll watch the tape tomorrow and think it shouldn't have come down to a missed extra point."Brees brought the Saints back against a unit that allowed only 12 second-half points all season. The 39-year-old quarterback threw a 5-yard TD pass to Michael Thomas with 4:58 remaining to put New Orleans ahead 21-17, and the Saints tacked on a field goal just before the two-minute warning.Earlier, Brees threw his 500th career touchdown pass Youth Marshon Lattimore Jersey , connecting with tight end Benjamin Watson for a 1-yard score to put New Orleans up 7-3 late in the second quarter.The NFL leader in career passing yardage, Brees joined Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Brett Favre as the only quarterbacks in league history with 500 TD passes."It's a significant benchmark, yet you're in the middle of the game and you're not really paying attention to it," Payton said. "I think more importantly, it's the final team he needed to beat."Indeed, Brees defeated the Ravens for the first time. Previously 0-4 against Baltimore, Brees is one of three quarterbacks 鈥?along with Favre and Manning 鈥?to beat every team in the league."You only get to play these guys once every four years, and not to put the pressure on it each and every time, but every time we play these guys, it's been a battle," Brees said. "They've had some pretty great defenses over those years."Brees went 22 for 30 for 212 yards. Facing a defense that made 11 sacks one week earlier in Tennessee, Brees escaped the tenacious Baltimore rush with the exception of a fourth-quarter sack by Terrell Suggs.Flacco completed 23 of 39 passes for 279 yards for the Ravens (4-3), including a 56-yarder to Brown that set up a 1-yard touchdown run by rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson for a 10-7 halftime lead.An 8-yard pass from Flacco to rookie tight end Mark Andrews put the Ravens ahead 17-7 with 3:30 left in the third quarter.ALL FOR NOTHINGAfter converting three fourth-down plays during the opening series 鈥?including a successful fake punt 鈥?New Orleans misfired on its fourth attempt of the drive.New Orleans held the ball for 20 plays and 9 minutes, 58 seconds. But the Saints came away empty when backup quarterback Taysom Hill fumbled on fourth down from the Baltimore 4.It was the longest drive to result in no points since the Browns went 9:59 against the Jets in the first week of the 2015 season.Coming into the game, Baltimore's opponents were 0 for 4 on fourth down.INJURIESSaints: Guard Josh LeRibeus left with an ankle injury in the second quarter.Ravens: OL Bradley Bozeman left in the second quarter with a left calf injury, returned to action and left again in the fourth quarter. ... CB Marlon Humphrey (thigh), OL Alex Lewis (neck), OL James Hurst (back) were on the inactive list.UP NEXTSaints: A Sunday night game in Minnesota is next for New Orleans, continuing a stretch of three road games in four weeks.Ravens: Baltimore faces Carolina next Sunday, its fourth road game in five weeks.
