{"id":892753,"date":"2026-05-16T11:30:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T11:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/892753\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T11:30:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T11:30:23","slug":"2026-saints-schedule-previewing-this-years-falcons-rivalry-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/892753\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Saints Schedule: Previewing this year’s Falcons rivalry games"},"content":{"rendered":"

Few rivalries in sports carry the history of the New Orleans Saints<\/a> and Atlanta Falcons<\/a>. The matchup was first introduced in the 1967 season and has seen decades of division-shifting matchups. Entering the 2026 season, the history is nearly even, with Atlanta holding a slight advantage following a 2025 season sweep.<\/p>\n

Recent history has stoked the flames for both of these franchises. In the 2025 season\u2019s finale, a short-handed Saints team fell short to Atlanta, 19-17, a game that ultimately handed the NFC South crown to the Carolina Panthers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The most memorable moment of all from this matchup? Steve Gleason\u2019s legendary blocked punt in 2006 became a symbol of New Orleans<\/a>‘ rebirth after Hurricane Katrina.<\/p>\n

Upcoming games in the Saints vs. Falcons matchup<\/p>\n

Game 1<\/p>\n

Location: Caesars Superdome (New Orleans, La.)<\/p>\n

Game 2<\/p>\n

Location: Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, Ga.)<\/p>\n

Record: Falcons lead 58-56.<\/p>\n

Last meeting in Saints vs. Falcons<\/p>\n

Falcons won 19-17 on Jan. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n

The Saints, entering the game riding a four-game winning streak, hoped to ride their momentum into the offseason before re-grouping ahead of 2026, but Kirk Cousins<\/a> and the Falcons shattered those hopes. Kyle Pitts<\/a> and Drake London<\/a> combined for over 130 total receiving yards in a low-scoring affair that saw five field goals made.<\/p>\n

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Common connections in Saints vs. Falcons<\/p>\n

Saints linebacker Kaden Ellis signed a deal to return to New Orleans this offseason after spending three seasons with the Falcons. He signed with Atlanta in 2023 after his first stint with New Orleans.<\/p>\n

Thomas Dimitroff, who served as the general manager for the Falcons from 2008 to 2020, joined the Saints\u2019 front office as a consultant in 2025. It\u2019s an interesting rivalry flip that you don\u2019t often see.<\/p>\n

Notable changes since the last meeting in Saints vs. Falcons<\/p>\n

The Falcons now enter the 2026 season under new leadership. Atlanta fired head coach Raheem Morris in favor of longtime Cleveland Browns<\/a> head coach Kevin Stefanski.<\/p>\n

The quarterback situation in Atlanta is still unclear. The Falcons signed former Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to a one-year, league minimum contract this offseason, and he\u2019s expected to compete with young quarterback Michael Penix Jr<\/a>. for the starting role.<\/p>\n

The Saints have lost four of their last six games against the Falcons in recent years, and if they want the momentum to shift to their side, they\u2019re going to have to rely on their revamped offense. Adding weapons like Travis Etienne Jr.<\/a>, Jordyn Tyson, and Bryce Lance to support Tyler Shough<\/a> is crucial to the team\u2019s success. Watch out for how Brandon Staley and the Saints\u2019 defense look to contain Drake London, Kyle Pitts, and the rest of the Falcons’ offense. If they can keep Atlanta\u2019s offense quiet, it\u2019s likely that Shough and New Orleans will be able to outscore them.<\/p>\n

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This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: 2026 Saints Schedule: Previewing this year’s Falcons rivalry games<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Few rivalries in sports carry the history of the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons. The matchup was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":677316,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2076],"tags":[254,260,54,4130,7,294,6153,1879,896,55,2572,2571,6,397,2661,18837,283],"class_list":["post-892753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-orleans-saints","tag-atlanta-falcons","tag-carolina-panthers","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-drake-london","tag-football","tag-kirk-cousins","tag-kyle-pitts","tag-michael-penix-jr","tag-new-orleans","tag-new-orleans-saints","tag-neworleans","tag-neworleanssaints","tag-nfl","tag-saints","tag-the-falcons","tag-travis-etienne-jr","tag-tyler-shough"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116584030140173507","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=892753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=892753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=892753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=892753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}