The Falcons head to St. Louis to face the Rams (off last week) as this NFC West rivalry is renewed once again.

While the Rams have nearly doubled Atlanta's win total in this series (39-23-2), the Falcons have excelled in this setting as of late, prevailing in 13 of the last 17 meetings dating back to the teams' second encounter in 1990.

A year ago, the Falcons swept this series for the second straight year and the fourth time in six seasons. In Week 9 at the Georgia Dome, Falcons RB Jamal Anderson rushed for 172 yards and a pair of scores, plus caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from QB Chris Chandler as Dan Reeves' club jumped out to a 17-0 first-quarter lead enroute to a 37-15 triumph.

Four weeks later at the TWA Dome (Week 13), Anderson rushed for 188 yards and a touchdown and since-departed QB Steve DeBerg (replacing an ineffective Tony Graziani, who started for an injured Chandler) threw a 27-yard TD pass to WR Terance Mathis as Dan Reeves' club completed the sweep, 21-10.

The Falcons are 5-4 on the road in this rivalry dating back to 1990, including 2-2 at St. Louis (0-1 at Busch Stadium, 2-1 at the TWA Dome) dating back to 1995.

Numbers: IF HE PLAYS: From 1988-93, Falcons QB Chris Chandler owned a combined 15-24 record as a starter with the Colts, Buccaneers and Cardinals, throwing 34 touchdown passes and 48 interceptions. From 1994-99 (including playoffs), Chandler is a combined 35-28 as a starter with the Rams, Oilers and Falcons, throwing 90 TD passes and just 46 interceptions. Chandler has thrown at least 1 touchdown pass in 27 straight games dating back to '97. Atlanta is 22-10 with QB Chris Chandler as the starter while Falcons' backup quarterbacks are 1-4 dating back to '97, including playoffs. Including playoffs, the Falcons have scored 469 points in 16 wins (29.3 PPG), but just 63 points in 5 losses (12.6 PPG) dating back to '98. The Falcons have limited the opposition to fewer than 100 yards rushing in 8 of their last 14 contests dating back to '98, including playoffs. Including playoffs, Falcons have limited the opposition to fewer than 250 yards of total offense in 7 of their last 14 contests dating back to '98.

In their last 60 games dating back to '95, the Rams' offense/special teams has given up 22 touchdowns (1 fumbled punt, 3 punt returns, 3 kickoff returns, 1 blocked field goal, 7 interceptions, 7 fumbles) and 5 safeties.

Things To Look For: Just when it looked like it couldn't get any worse for Dan Reeves and company, the sobering reality is that his Men in Black will be without All-Pro RB Jamal Anderson for the rest of the season, horrific news for an offense that depends on a workhorse runner to make its passing game work. It will be up to Atlanta's defense to carry the load and it starts with humbling Rams' QB Kurt Warner.

Etc.: The Falcons are 0-2 for the third time in four seasons (1996-99). Falcons PK Morten Andersen has scored at least 1 point in an NFL-record 240 straight games.

The Rams own an NFL-worst 46-99 record in the 1990s, and with a loss to the Falcons will become just the second team in league history to lose at least 100 games in a given decade (Buccaneers were 45-106-1 in the 1980s). St. Louis has lost eight straight games vs. NFC West foes dating back to '98 and are just 15-47 vs. divisional competition since 1990. The Rams are just 3-11 in their last 14 games at the TWA Dome dating back to October of 1997.