The Saints and Bengals have split the previous 12 games in the series with New Orleans entering Sunday having won the last meeting between the clubs, a 34-30 come-from-behind victory at Cincinnati on Dec. 5, 2010, when Drew Brees connected with Marques Colston on a three-yard TD with 31 seconds left. The teams first faced off in 1970, as the Saints lost 26-6 at Cincinnati. They did not meet again for five years, when the two teams christened the Superdome for the first regular season game, a 21-0 Bengals win. Three years later, the Saints recorded their first win against Cincinnati, a 17-7 home win. The two clubs split their next meetings, while the Saints won the next three. The Bengals then captured three straight until New Orleans broke the skid in 2010. Five of the games in the series have been decided by a touchdown or less. A look back at the results between the Saints and Bengals in the previous 12 meetings between the clubs:
| Date | Site | Score | Attendance |
| 11/19/70 | Cincinnati | L, 6-26 | 59,432 |
| 9/28/75 | New Orleans | L, 0-21 | 52,531 |
| 9/24/78 | Cincinnati | W, 20-18 | 40,455 |
| 10/25/81 | New Orleans | W, 17-7 | 46,336 |
| 12/9/84 | New Orleans | L, 21-24 | 40,855 |
| 12/20/87 | Cincinnati | W, 41-24 | 43,424 |
| 11/4/90 | Cincinnati | W, 21-7 | 60,067 |
| 1/2/94 | New Orleans | W, 20-13 | 58,036 |
| 9/15/96 | Cincinnati | L, 15-30 | 45,412 |
| 12/22/02 | Cincinnati | L, 13-20 | 43,544 |
| 11/19/06 | New Orleans | L, 16-31 | 68,001 |
| 12/5/10 | Cincinnati | W, 34-30 | 60,067 |
