20th anniversary of Superdome reopening: Revisiting key moments from Saints' emotional win over Falcons

Monday's prime-time showdown between the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints is not just the latest edition of one of the NFL's most-heated rivalries (though plenty will be on the line in the Week 4 finale). It's the 20th anniversary of one of the most meaningful nights in league history.

When the Falcons and Saints kick off "Monday Night Football" in New Orleans, it will be 20 years and 10 days since the Superdome reopened following Hurricane Katrina. On that night -- Sept. 25, 2006 -- Atlanta and New Orleans met in a nationally televised contest (also on ESPN) that was the Saints' first game at the Superdome since Dec. 26, 2004. It was a home opener, yes, but much more than that, it represented a welcome return to normalcy for a city that had been out of sorts for more than a year.

During the 2005 season, the Saints played "home" games at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, the Alamodome in San Antonio and Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as the Superdome underwent a 10-month restoration to fix damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. Week 3's contest against the NFC South rival Falcons marked the Saints' return to the comfy confines that had been repaired and refurbished in record time.

Plenty of reconstruction was left to complete throughout the city. New Orleans was still fighting to get back on its feet. But finally, after a devastating weather event changed their lives forever, New Orleanians had something to cheer for. And as they saw it, they had a message of revival to deliver to the rest of the nation.

New coach Sean Payton ensured his players understood the gravity of the moment, holding their Thursday night practice in the Superdome and delivering a speech that resonated throughout the organization.

"Look, it's going to be a special night, but it's only going to be special if we win," Payton told them, as he recalled in Timeline: Rebirth in New Orleans. "If we lose, it's just another football game. So I want you to go home and get ready to come back here and kick some a--."

"That night, in that building, I think was the first time we felt pressure," former Saints linebacker Scott Fujita recalled. "Because that's when you recognized how big this thing was."

The homecoming -- or rather, Domecoming -- was an achievement in itself. So, too, was the 23-3 triumph over the Falcons, earned in front of dignitaries from the football world (longtime NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and his successor, Roger Goodell) and beyond (former president George H.W. Bush handled the coin toss after a pregame concert performed by Green Day and U2). As many who were there that night have recounted, the energy mirrored that of a Super Bowl -- with meaning that stretched far beyond simple athletic competition.

"I vividly remember looking across the field and seeing the Falcons, and looking up at the crowd in the dome and thinking it was impossible for us to lose tonight," former Saints safety Steve Gleason said in Timeline: Rebirth in New Orleans.

With another Falcons-Saints showdown in the Big Easy approaching, let's take a look back at some of the highlights from that legendary night, beginning with one of the most iconic plays in Saints history.

Steve Gleason's blocked punt

It's the play that inspired a statue and delivered the surge of life New Orleans needed to officially christen the city's rebirth.

It's also the play that defined one man's playing career and the battle he's faced in retirement against ALS.

New Orleans forced a three-and-out on Atlanta's first possession of the game, prompting the Falcons to send out Michael Koenen to punt. Gleason, the fan favorite and Saints special teams captain, led the punt return unit onto the field. He identified the perfect look to execute Payton's punt block, stunting from one A-gap to the other upon the snap and sprinting through untouched, diving with outstretched arms to block Koenen's punt.

As the sound of Koenen's punt hitting Gleason's gloved hands traveled through the air, the Superdome erupted. Fellow special teamer Curtis Deloatch was first to arrive at the live ball, falling on it in the end zone for the Saints' first score at the Superdome in more than a year.

"It was like a shotgun blast," Saints icon Drew Brees said in Timeline: Rebirth in New Orleans. ... "I've, to this day, never heard a sound more meaningful than that football hitting Steve Gleason's hands when he blocked it."

"That's what that moment became known as: the rebirth of New Orleans," Fujita said.

Saints score again on trick-play TD

If Gleason's blocked punt and Deloatch's recovery for a touchdown weren't fitting enough for the momentous occasion, an even stronger Louisiana connection found the end zone for the Saints later in the first quarter.

With New Orleans at Atlanta's 11-yard line and threatening to widen their lead, Payton decided it was time to take a creative risk. In his first home game as Saints coach, Payton dialed up some trickery, calling for a double reverse that included Brees, Reggie Bush and LSU product Devery Henderson, required Brees to make a courageous lead block and ended with Henderson in the end zone.

ESPN play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico made sure to shout out Henderson's LSU background -- where he was part of another memorable play in Louisiana lore known as the "Bluegrass Miracle" -- and finish the call with "Touchdown, New Orleans," signifying this was much more than just another prime-time football game.

Special teams blocks another kick

The third-phase heroics didn't end with Gleason's punt block.

Holding a 17-3 lead shortly before halftime, the Saints' defense bowed up in the shadow of their own goal post, preventing the Falcons from reaching the end zone and forcing them to settle for a chip-shot field goal.

Except most chip shots don't include intentional obstructions.

With 1:54 remaining in the second quarter, eventual Pro Football Hall of Famer Morten Andersen lined up for a 25-yard field goal from the right hash. As the snap fired back to the Atlanta holder, Saints defensive back Josh Bullocks knifed through the Falcons' line, gaining unrestricted entry into the backfield and throwing both arms into the air. His right arm connected with Andersen's angled kick, denying the Falcons a scoring opportunity and standing as the Saints' second special teams block of the night.

Saints swallow up Michael Vick

Vick entered the game as the face of Atlanta's franchise and the foil to New Orleans' special night. He left as the roughed-up target of the Saints' aggression.

New Orleans sacked Vick five times on the night for a combined loss of 25 yards, with three of the quarterback takedowns coming in the fourth quarter. The Saints' penultimate sack saw New Orleans dial up an interior twist, freeing defensive tackle Brian Young, whose pursuit of Vick forced the quarterback to duck in order to slip his tackle attempt. Waiting on the other end of Vick's evasive maneuver was Charles Grant, who fought through a holding penalty on right tackle Todd Weiner to take down Vick. The game was essentially already over by that point, with the Saints leading 23-3 halfway through the final period, but the unrelenting effort really summed up New Orleans' inspired performance on a truly inspiring night.