5 Most Hated Oppononents in New Orleans Saints History

With the New Orleans Saints coming off their overtime victory over their rival, the Atlanta Falcons, I couldn’t help but think of teams that Saints fans generally hate.

Surprisingly, there’s not a whole lot of teams that the Saints have real hatred for. As I thought back, I could recall some events in the past that have rubbed Saints fans the wrong way, but as far as having true rivalries with teams, I could only think of a handful.

Sure, there’s the NFC South rivals that fans have kept a special place in their heart to hate, but for the most part, Saints fans are softies.

Well, that is until you make them angry, and trust me, you won’t like these fans when they're angry. As I’m down in Cajun Country typing this right now, there’s one message I’ve learned interacting with these people and that’s if they love you, they love you better than anyone else, but if they hate you, you might as well move.

These are the teams that folks down here in good ol’ Cajun Country can’t help but hate.

5. Minnesota Vikings

The New Orleans Saints don’t hate the Minnesota Vikings because of any fans or any nonsense taking place off the field, because this rivalry was born on the field.

Although the Saints haven’t made the playoffs many times throughout the franchise’s history, it seems like almost every time they do they meet the Vikings.

Back in 1988, the Saints made it to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Fans were feeling great after Bobby Hebert hit Eric Martin for a 10-yard scoring pass, but it was all downhill from there.

The Vikings ended up destroying the Saints, 44-10, and to make matters worse, the Saints would lose to the Vikings once again in 2001, 34-16. That loss came after the Saints pulled off the biggest upset in franchise history when they beat a great St. Louis Rams team.

So imagine the anticipation and nervousness that was running through every Saints fan's veins when the Saints played the Vikings in 2009.

The Brett Favre interception at the end was sweet redemption for Saints fans around the world.

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a rivalry simply because they are in the same division as the Saints. There’s no real tenacity between these two ballclubs.

But just because these teams don’t hate each others’ guts doesn’t mean a few fights don’t break out every now and then.

Both teams have the same goal in mind, and that’s caused them to share a rivalry with one another.

3. Chicago Bears

General consensus is that the Saints fans hate Chicago Bears fans, and it’s all over one event, one sign and, really, one person.

When the Saints traveled to Chicago in 2006 for the NFC Championship, a fan held up a sign that said “Bears Finishing what Katrina started.”

Real classy, Chicago, and Saints fans have not forgotten about the sign and still hold a grudge to this day. There was another sign by a Chicago fan at the game that read, “In the flood Noah saved the Bears not the Saints.”

Yet again, real classy, Chicago. It’s kind of funny that the Saints are the ones who ended up winning a Super Bowl recently and Bears fans are still looking for their first Super Bowl victory in the new millennium.

2. Carolina Panthers

This is another NFC South rivalry that started to pick up when Jake Delhomme left the Saints, went to the Carolina Panthers and made them Super Bowl contenders.

The Panthers have slacked off in recent years, but the rivalry picked up once again this season when Roman Harper gave Steve Smith a cheap shot in the end zone and a brawl broke out between the two teams.

The fact that Jeremy Shockey went to the Panthers and was flipping the Saints' sidelines off throughout the game added some drama as well.

1. Atlanta Falcons

Was there any doubt who would be No. 1 on this list? As far as I’m concerned there’s only one real rivalry the Saints have and that’s with the Atlanta Falcons.

Both teams have had great teams in the past couple of years, and the fans always gravitate to this one game every year.

This game always has the largest crowd of visitors at the game, and the two teams do a lot of back-and-forth chit-chatting throughout the game.

Hard licks, big plays and rubbing it in the opponents face is what you can expect when these two play one another. And the fans eat it up.

The fact that Roddy White runs his mouth a lot before and during the game adds to the rivalry even more, and Saints fans have a general hatred for him as well.

This is without a doubt the team Saints fans love to hate.