After the Saints beat the Falcons a couple of weeks ago, there were a lot of chatter from both sides.
The Saints were upset by the way the Falcons were “classless” before the game and talked about the Falcons as their “little brothers” who have come up short of victory in 11 of the last 13 meetings between the teams. Falcons wide receiver Roddy White, meanwhile, found it impossible to credit the Saints with doing much of anything to get the victory. These are recognizable beats from some of the more heated rivalries.
So is the fact that the Saints claim not to view their relationship with the Falcons as a rivalry at all. Saints linebacker Curtis Lofton, who was on the Falcons until signing with the Saints this offseason, explains the difference between the two sides.
“Being here in this program, I feel like they see it as a divisional game, not a rivalry game,” Lofton said, via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Whatever you want to call it, there’s definitely some bad feelings between the two teams. That has made for some good games in recent years and sets the table for another good one in Atlanta on Thursday night. As long as those continue and the two teams remain in close competition in the NFC South, the semantics don’t really matter much at all.