It's not that New Orleans Saints fans have been tepid in their vocal support of the team during home games over the previous three seasons. There have been times when the Caesars Superdome has been as loud as some of the fondest recollections.
But the fact that the Saints went 3-5 (in 2021), 4-5 (in '22) and 5-3 (in '23) in home games over those three seasons didn't give fans a whole lot to hold on to.
The anticipation level is different this week.
New Orleans is 2-0 entering Sunday's game against Philadelphia (1-1) in the Caesars Superdome, and the Saints obliterated Carolina and Dallas by a combined score of 91-29, including a 47-10 win over the Panthers in the season opener at home.
So the buzz that has built to a low roar will be full-throated Sunday, when the Saints pursue their first 3-0 start since 2013, when the team won its first five games.
"It's gonna be fun," said safety Tyrann Mathieu, a New Orleans native who joined his hometown team in 2022. "It'll be exciting. Obviously, we've gotten off to a good start and you can feel it.
"You can feel it in the locker room, you can feel it in the city among fans and we've just got to kind of keep that going. "
But players understand why support has been lukewarm at times, including a smattering of boos here and there.
"It's going to be awesome," quarterback Derek Carr said. "We had to prove it to our fans. We didn't give them good enough football last year.
"At the end of the year it was really fun, I had a lot of fun at the end of the year (as the Saints won four of their last five games in '23). There were some rough times at the beginning and in the middle, but that last half of the year I did feel that love and that appreciation. In the offseason I felt it when I would go places and it was awesome to have the support.
"But I think what we've done the first two weeks here, we always talked about, 'We've got to win for our city, we've got to win for them to be happy.' We want to do everything so everyone can enjoy Sundays with us. I think that this is going to be an electric atmosphere. I think our fans are really excited.
"Everybody was talking about, 'What's the offense going to look like, what's this going to going to be like.' I just said it was going to be different, and I think things have looked different with motions and different kinds of things and all that kind of stuff. And I think the fans are starting to get a feel for who we are and what we do and hopefully they get excited about it.
"You can definitely feel the buzz about it. But for us, we knew if we were going to do what we want to do, we were going to need that stadium rocking, and we have to play good football for that to happen. So, I'm excited for Sunday and to feel that atmosphere."
It's an atmosphere that consistently has been missing for the team, but that the team hopes it can provide reason for it to become a routine occurrence again.
"I think it'll be fun to be back out there," right tackle Trevor Penning said. "The Dome will be rocking – 2-0 is always a good thing to come back to. It'll be fun, for sure."
