No coincidence the Atlanta Falcons debut red helmets vs. 49ers

This week of Atlanta Falcons football will be even more exciting than usual as we will get to see the Dirty Birds throw it back for the first time in more than a decade with their stunning red helmets.

It is also no coincidence that they chose to debut them against the San Francisco 49ers as there is a long history between these two former division rivals.

The Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers have a long history with each other

Prior to the Atlanta Falcons being in their current NFC South division, they were members of the NFC West for 34 years.

From 1967 until 2001, the Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers were fierce rivals. They competed against each other routinely each and every year. In other words, lots of Joe Montana, Steve Young, and Jerry Rice throughout the years.

These two teams also had the best WR vs. CB battle in NFL history between Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders. There probably hasn’t been a better one-on-one matchup in league history. Those two by the end of their careers were and are still considered to be the undisputed best players at their respective position.

The Falcons will be playing the 49ers for the second-straight year, but this time they have to come to Atlanta with the crowd as hyped as they have been in years with the return of the red throwback helmets.

It will be a new age of Atlanta Falcons players wearing these throwback helmets. The new-age players have shown that they are turning this culture around after some tough years and they hope to chip away at the 49ers’ 16-game series lead over the Falcons.

Another part of the equation between these two teams is Kyle Shanahan, the San Francisco 49ers’ head coach. Obviously, he was one of the main driving forces behind the Falcons’ success in 2016. As a head coach, he lost his first game against his former team and then won the most recent game that took place last season.

The Atlanta Falcons need to make a statement by giving Kyle Shanahan a losing record against them while they sport their beautiful retro helmets.