Monday night’s Falcons-Saints matchup in New Orleans will carry the usual NFC South stakes, but it will also serve as a 20-year remembrance of the Superdome’s return after Hurricane Katrina. Atlanta and New Orleans will meet in the Week 4 finale 20 years and 10 days after the Saints’ emotional 23-3 victory in the building’s first game following the storm.
A return home after Hurricane Katrina
The Saints had not played at the Superdome since Dec. 26, 2004 when they hosted the Falcons on Sept. 25, 2006. Hurricane Katrina had badly damaged the stadium, forcing New Orleans to spend the 2005 season staging designated home games at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, the Alamodome in San Antonio and Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.
A 10-month repair and renovation project put the Superdome back into operation, though the broader recovery across New Orleans remained incomplete. The reopening nevertheless gave a city still recovering from devastation a major public moment and an opportunity to project resilience to the country.
- The 2006 game was a nationally televised Monday night meeting between division rivals.
- It marked the Saints’ first Superdome appearance in more than a year.
- Former President George H.W. Bush conducted the coin toss.
- Former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue and his successor, Roger Goodell, were among the dignitaries in attendance.
- Green Day and U2 performed before kickoff.
The atmosphere carried the scale and intensity of a Super Bowl, even though the significance reached well beyond football.
Sean Payton prepared the Saints for the pressure
Sean Payton was in his first season as New Orleans head coach, and he made sure his players understood that the evening would demand more than a routine performance. He moved the team’s Thursday practice to the Superdome and told the roster that the occasion would only become truly special with a victory.
Former linebacker Scott Fujita later said that was the first point at which the Saints truly sensed the pressure attached to the game. Former safety Steve Gleason remembered seeing Atlanta across the field, looking into the packed stands and feeling that defeat did not seem possible.
The Saints responded with a dominant performance, controlling the Falcons from the opening series and winning by 20 points.
Gleason’s block set the tone
The defining play arrived immediately after New Orleans forced a three-and-out on Atlanta’s opening possession. Falcons punter Michael Koenen came on to kick, but Gleason recognized the look for Payton’s punt-block call.
Gleason moved from one A-gap to the other at the snap, came through the protection untouched and laid out to get his hands on Koenen’s punt. Curtis Deloatch recovered the loose ball in the end zone for the first Saints touchdown at the restored Superdome.
The roar after the block became one of the lasting sounds of the night. Drew Brees later described the impact of the punt striking Gleason’s hands as the most meaningful sound he had heard in football. The play ultimately inspired a statue and became closely associated with Gleason’s legacy, including his later fight with ALS.
- Gleason blocked Koenen’s opening punt after Atlanta’s first offensive series.
- Deloatch recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown.
- The score gave New Orleans an immediate emotional and competitive lift.
- Fujita later described the moment as a symbol of the city’s rebirth.
Trickery and pressure finished the Falcons
New Orleans added another memorable first-quarter score with a creative call from Payton. From Atlanta’s 11-yard line, the Saints used a double reverse involving Brees, Reggie Bush and Devery Henderson. Brees threw a lead block, and Henderson, the former LSU standout remembered for his role in the “Bluegrass Miracle,” reached the end zone.
The Saints’ special teams made another pivotal contribution before halftime. Leading 17-3, New Orleans stopped Atlanta near the goal line and forced Morten Andersen to attempt a 25-yard field goal with 1:54 left in the second quarter. Defensive back Josh Bullocks broke through the protection and got his right arm on Andersen’s kick, preserving the 14-point margin.
Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick, then the centerpiece of the Falcons offense, spent much of the night under pressure. The Saints sacked him five times for 25 yards in losses, including three sacks during the fourth quarter.
One late sequence captured New Orleans’ relentless approach. An interior twist freed defensive tackle Brian Young, pushing Vick to evade his initial pressure, before Charles Grant brought down the quarterback despite right tackle Todd Weiner’s holding penalty. By then, the Saints led 23-3 midway through the final quarter, and the result was effectively settled.
Twenty years later, another Monday night Falcons-Saints game in the Superdome will revisit a rivalry night remembered not only for New Orleans’ victory, but for the city’s return to its home stadium.
