The I-85 Rivalry is a rivalry between the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

and

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. The rivalry began in when the Panthers joined as an expansion team. The two teams have played each other twice a year since then, having competed in the

NFC West The National Football Conference - Western Division or NFC West is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It currently has four members: the Arizona Cardinal ...

from 1995– and would reach new heights in the early 2000s with the

NFC South The National Football Conference – Southern Division or NFC South is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created prior to the 2002 NFL season, when ...

in . Atlanta holds a 36–22 lead in the series. The two teams have not met in the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. The Falcons and Panthers have won a combined 11 division titles since 1995 and each have made two Super Bowl appearances: The Falcons in Super Bowls

XXXIII 33 (thirty-three) is the natural number following 32 and preceding 34. In mathematics 33 is: * the largest positive integer that cannot be expressed as a sum of different triangular numbers. * the smallest odd repdigit that is not a prime num ...

and LI and the Panthers in Super Bowls

XXXVIII 38 (thirty-eight) is the natural number following 37 (number), 37 and preceding 39 (number), 39. In mathematics *38! − 1 yields which is the 16th factorial prime. *There is no answer to the equation Euler's totient function, φ(''x'') = 38, ma ...

and 50. Neither team has won a Super Bowl championship. Coincidentally, both teams lost their Super Bowls to the same two AFC teams: the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

and the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

. On the contrary, all 14 other NFC teams have won at least one NFL championship prior to the AFL–NFL merger, a

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

trophy, or both. It known as the "I-85 Rivalry" due to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

and

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

being only four hours apart on Interstate 85. Games between the two teams feature large contingents of visiting fans in both cities.

History

1995–99: Beginnings

Carolina's first ever regular season game was a tightly contested 23–20 overtime loss to the Falcons on September 3, 1995. This game was notable as NFL fans in the Carolinas who were formerly Falcons fans switched allegiance when the Panthers began play, filling up the Georgia Dome. The physical nature of the game contributed to an emotional experience for fans, setting the tone for the newly formed rivalry for years to come. As Falcons play-by-play announcer Wes Durham recalled, "I remember a lot of Panthers fans being there. I remember a lot of people from Charlotte, who had obviously driven down. And it was already being promoted as the 'I-85 Rivalry.' I remember that however they scored the touchdown towards the end of regulation it got loud. It was mostly Panthers fans." Later that season, Carolina defeated Atlanta 21–17 for their seventh win of the year–the most ever for an expansion franchise.NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, , p. 92 Carolina faced Atlanta in the first regular season game played at Ericsson Stadium (now Bank of America Stadium) in 1996, which the Panthers won. Carolina won at home against the Falcons in each of its first three years as a franchise, carrying a 4–2 mark over Atlanta before the Falcons evened the series to 5–5 by the end of the 1990s.

2000s

In 2002, the Falcons and Panthers were moved to the

along with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

, adding intensity to the rivalry. Coming off their Super Bowl appearance in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, the Falcons began dominating the Panthers during the early 2000s. By the end of the 2004 season, Atlanta had won 9 of 10 meetings in the decade, with Carolina's only win coming during the year of its Super Bowl appearance in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

. A notable game occurred in 2004, when the Falcons came back to beat the Panthers with a

Michael Vick Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is a former American football quarterback. Regarded as having transformed the quarterback position with his rushing abilities, he is the NFL leader in quarterback rushing yards and was the league's firs ...

rushing touchdown followed by an interception of Jake Delhomme by the Falcons defense to set up the game-winning field goal. By 2007, the Panthers made it more even, sweeping the Falcons for the first time since 1997 in 2005, but were still 2–6 at home against Atlanta. Overall, the Falcons won 13 of 20 games in the series during the 2000s.

2010s

By 2011, Matt Ryan had long taken over at quarterback for the Falcons after Vick was involved in a dog-fighting scandal in 2007. The Panthers drafted Auburn quarterback Cam Newton first overall that year after 2010 draft pick Jimmy Clausen was an inadequate replacement for Jake Delhomme. During the last week of the season, the Panthers and Falcons faced each other in a must-win game for the NFC South division title and playoff berth. Despite Atlanta winning earlier in the season, Carolina handily won this game 34–3, becoming just the second team in NFL history to clinch a division title with a losing record at 7–8–1. In week 16 of the season, the Panthers came into Atlanta with a perfect 14–0 record opposed to the Falcons 7–7 record. Many anticipated the Falcons, who had started 6–1, but then went 1–7, would lose as they had two weeks earlier, when they lost 38–0. The Falcons however shocked the Panthers and beat them with a final score of 20–13. Only the Falcons and the

in Super Bowl 50 beat the Panthers that season.

Game results

, - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Falcons
23–20(OT) , style=", Panthers
21–17 , Tie
1–1 , Panthers join the NFL as an expansion team and are placed in the

along with the Falcons. The game in Atlanta was the Panthers' first game as an NFL franchise. , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Falcons
20–17 , style=", Panthers
29–6 , Tie
2–2 , Panthers open Ericsson Stadium (now known as Bank of America Stadium). , - , , style=", , style=", Panthers
9–6 , style=", Panthers
21–12 , Panthers
4–2 , , - , , style=", , style=", Falcons
51–23 , style=", Falcons
19–14 , Tie
4–4 , Falcons lose Super Bowl XXXIII. , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Falcons
27–20 , style=", Panthers
43–28 , Tie
5–5 , , - , - , , style=", , style=", Falcons
13–12 , style=", Falcons
15–10 , Falcons
7–5 , , - , , style=", , style=", Falcons
24–16 , style=", Falcons
10–7 , Falcons
9–5 , , - , , style=", , style=", Falcons
41–0 , style=", Falcons
30–0 , Falcons
11–5 , Both teams realigned into the newly created

. Falcons' 41–0 is the largest margin of victory in the series for either team. , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Falcons
20–14(OT) , style=", Panthers
23–3 , Falcons
12–6 , Panthers lose

Super Bowl XXXVIII Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Carolina Panthers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) c ...

. , - , , style=", , style=", Falcons
34–31(OT) , style=", Falcons
24–10 , Falcons
14–6 , Falcons win 7 straight home meetings (1998–2004). , - , , style=", , style=", Panthers
44–11 , style=", Panthers
24–6 , Falcons
14–8 , , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Panthers
10–3 , style=", Falcons
20–6 , Falcons
15–9 , , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Panthers
27–20 , style=", Falcons
20–13 , Falcons
16–10 , , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Falcons
45–28 , style=", Panthers
24–9 , Falcons
17–11 , , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Falcons
28–20 , style=", Panthers
28–19 , Falcons
18–12 , , - , - , , style=", , style=", Falcons
31–10 , style=", Falcons
31–10 , Falcons
20–12 , Falcons clinch NFC South and home-field advantage in their home win. , - , , style=", , style=", Falcons
31–17 , style=", Falcons
31–23 , Falcons
22–12 , , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Falcons
30–28 , style=", Panthers
30–20 , Falcons
23–13 , , - , , style=", , style=", Panthers
21–20 , style=", Panthers
34–10 , Falcons
23–15 , Panthers clinch NFC South title in their away win. , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Panthers
34–3 , style=", Falcons
19–17 , Falcons
24–16 , Game in Atlanta was the final game of the season and winner-take-all game for the NFC South title. The Panthers won the game to clinch the division and the Falcons missed the playoffs. , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Falcons
20–13 , style=", Panthers
38–0 , Falcons
25–17 , Falcons' win in Atlanta was the Panthers' only loss in a 15–1 regular season. Panthers lose Super Bowl 50. , - , , style=", , style=", Falcons
48–33 , style=", Falcons
33–16 , Falcons
27–17 , Falcons lose Super Bowl LI. , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Falcons
22–10 , style=", Panthers
20–17 , Falcons
28–18 , Falcons open

Mercedes-Benz Stadium Mercedes-Benz Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Opened in August 2017 as a replacement for the Georgia Dome, it serves as the home stadium of the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL) ...

. Falcons home win in week 17 clinches the final NFC Wild Card spot while also denying the Panthers the NFC South title. , - , , style=", , style=", Falcons
31–24 , style=", Falcons
24–10 , Falcons
30–18 , , - , , style=", , style=", Falcons
40–20 , style=", Falcons
29–3 , Falcons
32–18 , , - , - , , , style=", Panthers
23–16 , style=", Falcons
25–17 , Falcons
33–19 , Falcons fired head coach Dan Quinn following game in Atlanta. , - , , , style=", Panthers
19–13 , style=", Falcons
29–21 , Falcons
34–20 , , - , , , style=", Falcons
37–34 (OT) , style=", Panthers
25–15 , Falcons
35–21 , , - , , , style=", Falcons
24–10 , style=", Panthers
9–7 , Falcons
36–22 , , - , Regular season , style=", , , , , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:I-85 rivalry NFL rivalries Atlanta Falcons Carolina Panthers Atlanta Falcons rivalries Carolina Panthers rivalries