Daniel Alamillo has never been in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome when it's rocking with 70,000-plus fans.
So the California native settled for the next best thing, catching a flight from California to be among the 3,000 fans allowed in the Dome on Sunday for the Saints' pivotal game against the Carolina Panthers.
"An amazing experience with a beautiful crowd," Alamillo said. "The soul of the city remains alive all through COVID-19."
Alamillo, 29, says he's been a Saints fan since he was 10.
He fell in love with the colors.
"And I fell in love with the history," he said.
The Saints took him down memory lane and recreated some of that history on Sunday in a much-needed 27-24 victory.
There was Drew Brees, connecting early and often with an undrafted receiver wearing No. 12. Except this time it was Marquez Callaway instead of Marques Colston.
And there the Saints were looking like they looked in many of the Brees years, needing the offense to carry the load for a defense — well, at least the secondary — that was struggling.
And then there was some recent history too as Brees, Teddy Bridgewater and Taysom Hill sat beside one another on the Saints bench after Bridgewater (now the starter for Carolina) sat between his former teammates after scrambling to the sideline late in the fourth quarter.
Just a few plays later, Panthers kicker Joey Slye came up just short on what would have been an NFL record 65-yard field goal that would have sent the Saints into overtime for a second straight game.
Instead, the Saints continued their recent dominance over the Panthers, beating their NFC South rivals for the seventh time in the past eight meetings.
And Slye's miss gave Alamillo one more Dome experience.
With 1:51 remaining, chants of "Who Dat" broke out in the Dome for the first time this season in the Saints' first game with fans in attendance.
"You certainly felt a little bit more juice in the stadium than normal," Saints coach Sean Payton said.
The 3,000 fans in attendance watched a Saints offense that clicked on all cylinders for the first time this season, starting with the opening drive of the game and never letting up.
Things went so well that the only time punter Thomas Morstead came on the field was to hold on extra points and field goals for Wil Lutz.
"Inactive again," Morstead said jokingly in a post on social media after the game.
For the Saints, that's a welcoming sign for a team that struggled at times on offense in the first five games.
Particularly impressive is that the Saints were able to move the ball up and down the field despite having to play without both its top two receivers. Michael Thomas, who hasn't played since the season opener, sat out nursing ankle and hamstring injuries, and Emmanuel Sanders was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list after testing positive on Thursday.
But Callaway, an undrafted rookie, stepped up and caught a season-best eight passes for 75 yards.
Kamara did his thing again, rushing for 83 yards to go with his 65 yards receiving. He continues to create magic near the Saints' sideline. There was that highlight reel 52-yard reception against Green Bay in Week 3 and his juggling catch two weeks ago. This time it was Kamara stretching the ball out to pick up a crucial first down.
Brees was as sharp as he's been all season, completing 29 of 36 passes for 287 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a spectacular grab by Jared Cook.
It was enough to ruin Bridgewater's return to the Dome, where he played for the past two seasons. Bridgewater completed 23 of 28 passes for 254 passes and a pair of touchdowns.
"Look, I don't remember him moving that good (when he was here)," Payton said. "He extended some plays."
But Bridgewater was unable to extend his last play of the game. He was sacked by Marcus Davenport, pushing Slye's potential game-tying field goal back a few yards. It was short, and the Saints have now won three straight games and improved to 4-2 despite still not having put it all together yet.
The secondary must improve.
"It's not the best game we played, but it's a win," Kamara said. "Nobody asks about how you won or lost, they just want to know if it's a win or loss."
Kamara waved his arms to get those Who Dat chants even louder.
"I don't care how many fans it was," Kamara said. "If it was 10 or 1,000 or 3,000, it was good to have some people back in there. Everybody is itching to get back into the stadium. Hopefully next game we can get 10,000 or 20,000, I don't know. We enjoy having them as much as they enjoying being there. It's a huge advantage, and they brought some noise today."
Most had seen the Saints in the Dome before.
There were some, like one who made the trip from California, who hadn't.
"I couldn't have asked for a better ending," Alamillo said.
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Walker: 3,000 fans brought some "juice" to the Dome Sunday, and so did the Saints' offense - NOLA.com
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