NEW ORLEANS - For one day, at least, New Orleans looked much as it did before Katrina blew in and turned life upside down for anyone who’s ever called this city home.

Happy people with smiles on their faces, beads around their necks and drinks in their hands filled the city streets. There was joyous bedlam inside the Superdome, where it was equal parts rout, welcome-home party and revival.

Fans were on their feet all night, waving towels and cheering every move by their beloved Saints. Chants of “Who Dat?” shook the dome, and the misery and suffering that now defines this city seemed little more than a bad memory.

For anyone who questioned why the Saints would go back to a flood-ravaged city, there was your answer Monday night, loud and clear:

New Orleans still throws the world’s best party. It just needs a reason.

“We understand Hurricane Katrina went through here,” Saints receiver Joe Horn said. “We understood the importance of us winning that game for them. If we would have lost, I’m sure they would still be partying, sure I’m they’d still be happy because this organization is still in New Orleans, back in Louisiana.

“We wanted to win to put the icing on the cake.”

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Too often, we make sports and the athletes who play them bigger than they are. Players refer to their games as wars. Fans who won’t remember who did what to whom five years from now act as if their lives depend upon the outcome.

Sometimes, though, sport does transcend the hype and allows us to show the best of what we can be. This game — indeed, everything about this whole Saints season — was one of those rare times.

While there are parts of New Orleans that don’t look any different than they did before Katrina hit on Aug. 29, 2005, make no mistake, the entire city is still struggling. The population is less than half what it was pre-Katrina, and for those who are here, every day is a fight to hang on.

Video: Inside the Superdome Nightly News The Saints go marching in Sept. 25: The Saints reopened the Superdome Monday with a win over Atlanta that had all the trappings of a Super Bowl one year after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city. NBC's Martin Savidge reports. Inside the renovated Superdome The Superdome's 50-yard line Inside a Superdome luxury suite Inside the Superdome's owner box

In the Lower Ninth Ward, hit hardest by Katrina, piles of rubble are all that’s left of some houses, and spray-painted utility poles pass for street signs. In places where the cleanup is further along, there’s an emotional fatigue that comes with endless rebuilding.

Lesser cities would crumble. After decades of delighting in what sets the city apart, though, the citizens of New Orleans are finding strength in the one thing that pulls them together.

“We need this team,” said Dawn Murray, dressed in Saints colors right down to her gold shoes. “It crosses all lines. It’s not Democrat or Republican. It’s not rich or poor. It’s not black or white. It’s black and gold.”

And the Saints know it, giving their game ball to the city after their 23-3 rout of the Atlanta Falcons.

“This is their reward from us,” Deuce McAllister said. “Three hours of joy.”

It was much more than that. For one of the few times since Katrina, there was hope in the air.

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Business was brisk before the game in the French Quarter, where a sidewalk saxophonist delighted tourists with a rousing rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In” and fans waited in line for carriage tours. Aside from a few Falcons fans, the streets were a sea of black and gold. Fans in Horn, Reggie Bush, Deuce McAllister and Drew Brees jerseys. Otherwise serious-looking business men and women showing their pride in black and gold.

There was even a baby decked out in Saints paraphernalia, right down to his bib.