Saints-Falcons Flashback: A Look Back at the Most Important Game in a Bitter Rivalry

New Orleans comes into Week 18 facing a must-win situation against their most hated foe. This is the most important regular season showdown in this rivalry for the Saints. The most important clash between these teams took place 30 years ago.

Author:
Bob Rose
Updated:
Jan 9, 2022 10:11 AM EST
Original:
Jan 9, 2022

In this story:

New Orleans Saints

Atlanta Falcons

Bitter NFC South rivals square off in the 2021-22 regular-season finale when the New Orleans Saints travel to play the Atlanta Falcons this afternoon.

The 7-9 Falcons have been eliminated from the postseason. At 8-8, New Orleans needs a win plus a loss by the San Francisco 49ers against the Los Angeles Rams to qualify for the playoffs.

This is the 106th meeting between the Saints and Falcons. Atlanta holds a 54-51 all-time advantage in the series, including a 27-25 edge when they play the Saints at home. New Orleans coach Sean Payton has a 20-9 record against the Falcons since arriving in 2006. His Saints are 10-4 in Atlanta.

The Falcons won the last meeting between these two, a 27-25 victory in New Orleans on Nov. 7. Falcons QB Matt Ryan threw for 343 yards in the win as his team built a 24-6 fourth-quarter lead.

Behind backup QB Trevor Siemian, the Saints came roaring back and actually took a 25-24 lead in the final minute. However, Ryan hit RB Cordarrelle Patterson on a 64-yard pass to set up a field goal for the victory on the game’s last play.

For the Saints, this is the most important regular-season showdown in the history of this storied rivalry. The most important showdown for both teams against each other came in a 1991 Wild-Card showdown.

1991 NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

Sep 29, 1991; Atlanta, GA, USA; FILE PHOTO; New Orleans Saints linebacker (57) Rickey Jackson recovers a fumble against the Atlanta Falcons. Mandatory Credit: Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports

After ending 20 years without a winning season or playoff berth in 1987, coach Jim Mora's Saints narrowly missed the postseason in 1988 and 1989.

Despite a yearlong holdout by QB Bobby Hebert and one of the league's worst offenses in 1990, New Orleans returned to the playoffs on the strength of a dominant defense.

Hebert returned to the team in 1991. The offense also gave him another weapon with the offseason addition of WR Quinn Early. Injuries to running backs Dalton Hilliard and Craig Heyward hampered the ground attack. However, Hebert and wideouts Floyd Turner, Eric Martin, and Early fueled a 10th ranked passing attack.

Nov 17, 1991; San Diego, CA, USA; FILE PHOTO; New Orleans Saints receiver Quinn Early (89) in action against the San Diego Chargers. Mandatory Credit: Peter Brouillet-USA TODAY NETWORK

A suffocating defense always led by Mora's teams. The 1991 Saints gave up the fewest points in the NFL while ranking second in total yards surrendered and second in both pass defense and run defense. They forced the most turnovers in the league (48) while sacking opposing quarterbacks 50 times.

New Orleans had a physical defensive line and their intimidating ‘‘Dome Patrol’’ linebacking corps of Pat Swilling, Sam Mills, Vaughan Johnson, and future Hall of Famer Rickey Jackson.

Swilling, Mills, and Johnson earned Pro Bowl bids. Jackson did not, despite 11.5 sacks. Swilling led the league with 17 sacks and won NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors. Their ball-hawking secondary pulled in a league-best 29 interceptions.

The Saints held ten opponents to 20 points or fewer in 1991, including an incredible eight games of single-digits. They won their first seven games and raced to a 9-1 start. Then in the NFC West, the team was eyeing up its first division championship in the franchise's 24-year history.

New Orleans Saints LB Pat Swilling pressures Steelers QB Bubby Brister in a 1990 game. Credit: neworleanssaints.com

From 1981 to 1990, the NFC West was owned by the San Francisco 49ers in one of the most dominant eras in NFL history. Over those ten years, the 49ers won eight division titles, qualified for the playoffs nine times, and won four Super Bowls.

San Francisco was moving on without legendary QB Joe Montana in 1991. They'd still finish with a 10-6 record but missed the playoffs and put the division was up for grabs. The Saints, with their outstanding defense, looked to capitalize. Also in the mix were the Atlanta Falcons.

The 1991 Falcons were looking to reverse the trend of eight consecutive losing seasons behind flamboyant coach Jerry Glanville. Thanks to a big-play offense and an aggressive defense led by future Hall of Fame CB Deion Sanders, Atlanta stayed in contention all season.

The Saints, Falcons, and 49ers would be locked in a close battle all year. Atlanta swept San Francisco while the Saints split their season series against the 49ers and Falcons.

New Orleans beat Atlanta on the road in Week Five. Their defense forged their 27-6 win, which held the Falcons to just 162 yards while recording five sacks and forcing two turnovers.

Atlanta earned a measure of revenge in Week 13, pulling out a 23-20 overtime win in New Orleans. In that game, the Saints had 419 yards of offense while forcing four turnovers and recording four sacks on defense. New Orleans couldn't contain Atlanta WR Michael Haynes, who had six receptions for 187 yards and two touchdowns.

The Saints finished with an 11-5 record, good enough to win their first NFC West title. Atlanta grabbed a wild-card spot with a late-season surge to finish 10-6. As the Number Three seed in the NFC, New Orleans would host a game in the wild card round. Their opponent: The Atlanta Falcons.

December 28, 1991

Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints

Saints LB Vaughan Johnson (53) brings down Atlanta WR Andre Risen (80) in a 1991 Wild-Card matchup. Credit: si.com

Saints QB Bobby Hebert was sharp in the early stages of the game. Hebert hit WR Floyd Turner for a 26-yard touchdown for the only score of the first quarter and a 7-0 lead.

The Saints' defense was just as sharp through the first half. New Orleans forced two turnovers and sacked Falcons QB Chris Miller four times. Future Hall of Fame K Morten Andersen kicked two second-quarter field goals to respond to ten Atlanta points and gave the Saints a 13-10 halftime lead.

Neither team could run the ball with much success, but the Saints' offense became utterly stagnant in the second half. Hebert would throw for 273 yards in the game but misfired in crucial moments over the last two quarters.

Chris Miller stood tall against pressure from Saints ends, Frank Warren and Wayne Martin, and linebackers Jackson, Mills, and Swilling. Wideout Michael Haynes, a New Orleans native, was again a thorn in the side of his hometown team.

Haynes had six catches for 144 yards and two second-half touchdowns. His first score, a 20-yard third-quarter strike from Miller, gave the Falcons their first lead at 17-13. In the fourth quarter, the Saints would retake the lead 20-17 on a 1-yard scoring run from RB Dalton Hilliard.

After the Falcons tied the score at 20 midway through the fourth, Haynes would thrust a dagger through the heart of New Orleans. Haynes hauled in a 61-yard bomb from Miller for a touchdown that was the margin of victory in a 27-20 Atlanta win with less than three minutes remaining.

Former Falcons WR Michael Haynes (81) scores on a long touchdown reception against the New Orleans Saints in a 1991 game. Credit: thesportsdrop.com

Despite gaudy defensive numbers in all three matchups against the Falcons and a historic season for New Orleans, their year would end in bitter disappointment to their hated rival. Haynes, who would play for the Saints from 1994 to 1996, caught 12 passes for 331 yards and four back-breaking touchdowns in the two wins against the Saints in 1991.

The 1991 New Orleans Saints were full of stars on both sides of the ball. Their Wild-Card loss to their most hated foe was not only a heartbreaking chapter in the history of this storied rivalry but one of the most brutal losses in franchise history.

A little over 30 years later, the New Orleans Saints must beat the Atlanta Falcons again to keep their season alive. The game doesn't mean as much to the Falcons as that 1991 Wild-Card matchup. For the Saints, this equals the most meaningful showdown in the bitter history of this rivalry.