Atlanta spent a lot of money building Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the Atlanta Falcons to play their home games, but it’s their rivals who have a better record there. Since the venue opened for the 2017 season, the New Orleans Saints have gone 5-2 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium — a stunning win percentage of .714.
Those Saints victories included a 43-37 thriller in overtime in 2018 and a Thanksgiving Day rout in 2019. Last season’s loss was their first since the arena’s inaugural season.
Now compare it to the Falcons’ home record, which is one of the NFL’s worst since 2017: 27-32. That’s a win percentage of just .457. Only eight teams have won fewer home games since Mercedes-Benz Stadium opened its doors.
The next chapter in this long-running rivalry will be written on Sunday, when the Saints and Falcons kick off in Week 4. They’re both looking to keep pace in the NFC South title race but each team is dealing with similar troubles. Offensive line injuries have struck New Orleans (Erik McCoy is having sports hernia surgery, sidelining him for six to eight weeks) as well as Atlanta (the Falcons already put Drew Dalman on injured reserve and Kaleb McGary could be next). Whoever has the next man up playing well just might win the day.
