NEW ORLEANS, (Reuters):

FOR ONE day, residents in the beaten-down Gulf Coast were able to forget about Hurricane Katrina and have some fun.

More than 70,000 people jammed the Superdome to watch the undefeated New Orleans Saints upset the Atlanta Falcons 23-3 on Monday night and grab sole possession of first place in the NFC South.

"It was definitely a must-win mentality," said Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who completed 20 of 28 passes for 191 yards and piloted a near-flawless ball-control offence.

"We saw that the only way the Saints were going to make this special was to win this game. That's what the fans deserved, that's what the whole city and region deserved."

Crowd build-up

Football-starved fans began tailgating at the Superdome more than 12 hours before the game. The crowd noise inside was deafening.

The game was emotional for many because the Superdome was the flashpoint of Hurricane Katrina, a violent storm 13 months ago that turned a once-vibrant New Orleans into vast stretches of wasteland.

The 31-year-old building, which has hosted events ranging from a Muhammad Ali championship fight to a mass by Pope John Paul II, housed 30,000 of the city's residents during the hurricane.

While the Superdome was getting battered by Katrina, chaos was rampant inside the building. Sewage overflowed. The heat was stifling. No one seemed to care.

"We understand what happened here," said Saints receiver Joe Horn. "And the people that went through that catastrophe lost some of their family. We understood the importance of us winning the game for them.

"If we would have lost, I'm sure they would still be partying, they would still be happy because this organisation is still in New Orleans.

"But for us, as players, we wanted to win to put the icing on the cake."

The Saints were forced to play all of their home games on the road last year and if not for a top-to-bottom restoration of the Superdome, the team would have probably left for good.

Comeback

But the team came back in a big way, dominating the Falcons and their NFL-best rushing game. Warrick Dunn was the league's top ground gainer after the first two weeks of the season but was held to just 46 yards on 12 carries.

John Carney kicked three field goals for the Saints, who rolled to a 20-3 half-time lead before cruising to the easy win.

Still, Horn knows the pain some people felt in returning to the Superdome, a building many feel symbolised the government's bungled evacuation effort.

"I was focused on the job at hand but I was also feeling the love for the fans," he said. "I was feeling that emotion. That's where my tears came from, the kids that were smiling that could have been standing in this dome during the hurricane.

"They came here and watched their football team play. They didn't have to come. If I was in the Superdome and witnessed what happened here, I probably wouldn't have come back."

New Orleans will travel to Carolina to face the 1-2 Panthers on Sunday. The Saints were 3-13 a year ago so they are not ready to make any reservations for the Super Bowl.