The Falcons had the NFL's second best winning percentage at home during the period of 2008 to 2010 with a. 833 percentage.

The Falcons had their first Monday Night Football game in Atlanta during the 1970 season.

In 1998, under recently acquired head coach Dan Reeves, quarterback Chris Chandler and running back Jamal Anderson the " Dirty Bird " Falcons had their greatest season to date.

In the second game of the Falcons 1999 season, running back Jamaal Anderson, who had been a key player in the Falcons ' 1998 success, suffered a season-ending knee injury.

In 1932, the NHL let grain merchant James E. Norris, who had made two previous unsuccessful bids to buy an NHL team, purchase the Falcons.

In the playoffs, the Vikings rolled past the Arizona Cardinals 41 – 21, and came into the Metrodome heavily favored for their NFC title showdown with the Atlanta Falcons, who had gone 14 – 2 in the regular season.

The Atlanta Falcons had defeated the Packers in a 1991 game in which Favre did not participate.

Later in the quarter, Falcons defensive back Ronnie Bradford intercepted a pass from Elway ( that had bounced off Shannon Sharpe ) and returned it to the Broncos 35-yard line.

The Falcons offense gained a total of 337 yards, were not penalized once, and had driven inside Denver's 30-yard line 7 times.

Tampa Bay did not win their first game until the 13th week of their second season, starting with a record of 0 – 26 ( though the Bucs had beaten the Atlanta Falcons 17 – 3 in a 1976 pre-season game before their first regular season ).

In 1947, they had lost the Detroit Gems of the NBL, who moved to become the Minneapolis Lakers ( now the Los Angeles Lakers ), and the Detroit Falcons of the BAA, which folded.

Air Force Falcons football has had the best showing of the three, winning the trophy 18 of its 34 years.

The Crusader football team had a 41-game losing streak in effect from 2002 until September 30, 2006, when they defeated the Manchester Regional High School Falcons, 33-14, snapping the four-year-long losing streak.

It had seemed like a good pre-season matchup since the Falcons had played in the previous season's Super Bowl and the 49ers coming into the ' 99 season had posted 16 consecutive 10-win seasons ).

The Phantoms had a relatively short life, being replaced with new F-16A Fighting Falcons, as part of " Operation Ready Switch ".

Interior door hardware and steering columns were shared with the Falcons and the Aussie versions also had their own instrument clusters, optional air conditioning and much larger bumpers.

The Falcons women's basketball teams had recent postseason success.

Against the Atlanta Falcons a week later Owens had a 17-yard kick return and one catch for 26 yards.

After the Cowboys defeated the Atlanta Falcons, 38-28, owner Jerry Jones revealed that Owens had injured a tendon on one of his fingers ( the same finger that he broke in an unrelated incident a few weeks earlier ).

The Falcons had already been playing the California teams in the NFL Coastal Division, but the Saints were in the Eastern Conference and now faced with two trips to the West Coast per season.

For the 1996 / 7 season the new name of Newcastle Falcons and new black-and-white colours were adopted, after local businessman Sir John Hall had taken control and attempted to create a sporting club in Newcastle that would emulate the success of the Barcelona model.

The Falcons play their home games at the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta, but construction is likely to begin in 2014 on a new stadium with play beginning in the 2017 season.

In their 45 years of existence, the Falcons have compiled a record of 298 – 402 – 6 with division championships in 1980, 1998, 2004, and 2010.

In 1980, after a nine game winning streak, the Falcons posted a franchise then-best record of 12 – 4 and captured their first NFC West division title.

In 1992, the Atlanta Falcons opened a new chapter in their history moving into the newly constructed Georgia Dome.

On March 19, 2003, the Falcons presented their new logo.

Although the Falcons won 3 of their last 4 games after the return of Michael Vick, they ended up with a dismal 5 – 11 record that year.

The Falcons went 11 – 5, winning their third division title and earning a first-round bye into the playoffs.

The Falcons defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20 – 10 in the final game of the season to improve their record to 9 – 7.

In 2010, with a regular season record of 13 – 3, their best regular season record since the 1998 Super Bowl season, the Falcons secured a third straight winning season, their fourth overall divisional title, and the top overall seed in the NFC playoffs ; however, the Falcons were overpowered by the eventual Super Bowl XLV champion Green Bay Packers in the NFC Divisional Playoffs 48 – 21.

In exchange, the Falcons gave up their first -, second-and fourth-round draft picks in 2011, and their first and fourth draft picks in 2012.

The Falcons finished the season at 10-6, securing the fifth seed after a Week 17 beatdown of Tampa Bay in which the Falcons pulled their starters after leading 42-0 just twenty-three minutes into the game.

Then the Giants took control, as Manning threw for two more TD passes to Mario Manningham and Nicks and the defense completed its shutout of the Falcons to give the New York Giants the win, 24-2, and the Falcons their third straight playoff loss with Matt Ryan and Mike Smith.

The Falcons wore an all-black combination for home games against their archrivals, the New Orleans Saints, winning the first two contests ( 24 – 21 in and 36 – 17 in ), but losing 31 – 13 in.

The Falcons also wore their all-black uniform in 2007 against the New York Giants, and in 2008 against the Carolina Panthers and against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ( for the second time ).

In the 1980s, the Falcons wore their white uniforms at home most of the time because of the heat.

Since the start of the 2008 season, the Falcons have recorded four consecutive winning seasons for the first time in franchise history.

The Falcons have qualified for the playoffs three times ( 2008, 2010 and 2011 ) during this period, but lost all three in the first round

The Falcons drafted All-American Linebacker Tommy Nobis from the University of Texas with the first pick of the draft, making him the first-ever Falcon.

In the 1978 season, the Falcons qualified for the playoffs for the first time and won the Wild Card game against the Philadelphia Eagles 14 – 13.

In 1989, the Falcons drafted CB Deion Sanders in the first round, who helped them for the next four years, setting many records for the franchise.

In the 2001 NFL Draft, the Falcons orchestrated a trade with the San Diego Chargers, acquiring the first overall pick ( which was used on quarterback Michael Vick ) in exchange for wide receiver / return specialist Tim Dwight and the fifth overall pick ( used on running back LaDainian Tomlinson ).

The 2002 season was the Falcons ' first in the more geographically-accurate NFC South upon NFL realignment.

The Falcons became the first team in NFL history to claim a playoff win over the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field, beating them 27 – 7.

The first half was a defensive struggle, with the first points coming off of a safety by the Falcons, giving Atlanta a 2-0 lead.

The Falcons 78, 000 square foot headquarters and training facilities or located on a 50-acre site in Flowery Branch, Ga., the complex which was one of the first of its kind was completed in 1999.

The two conference title games led to a hot bidding war between the clubs for players ; the Niners signed cornerback Deion Sanders from the Atlanta Falcons and also signed linebacker Ken Norton, Jr. from the Cowboys ; they defeated the Cowboys 21-14 in the 1994 regular season and then hosted the Cowboys in that year's Conference title game, with the Cowboys now coached by Barry Switzer ; the 49ers raced to a 21-0 lead in the first seven minutes of the first quarter and won 38-28 en route to Super Bowl XXIX.

Peterson's first career touchdown was a 60-yard screen pass in his first career game against the Atlanta Falcons.

The New Orleans Saints ' first post-Katrina home game was an emotionally-charged Monday Night Football game versus their division rival, the Atlanta Falcons.

The September 25, 2006 home opener, the first home game in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, was won by the Saints 23 – 3 against the Atlanta Falcons, who were undefeated in the 2006 season at that time.

On January 8, 2012 in the first round of the playoffs the Giants defeated the Atlanta Falcons 24 – 2.