METAIRIE - Saints coach Sean Payton sees Monday night's matchup with rival Atlanta as a separate event from the 10th anniversary of the Superdome's reopening after Hurricane Katrina.

The game and the celebration will be going on in the same place at the same time, and the same two teams will be playing.

Yet Payton sounds wary of blurring the line between the two, if for no other reason than out of respect for the unique, transcendent qualities of the Saints' first true home game after being displaced by the storm for the entire 2005 season.

"Having been through the actual opening - that was emotional," Payton said of the Saints' 23-3 victory over the Falcons on Monday night, September 25th, 2006.

The reopening of Superdome, and the rebirth of a community it symbolized, "is not as significant to this game," Payton continued. "This is an important division game ... one team is 0-2 and trying to get a win, and another team that's 1-1."

That winless team happens to be the one from New Orleans, where only a handful of players remain from the 2006 squad.