A groggy John Magana sat on a bench in Terminal A at Bush Intercontinental Airport early Monday morning. He was still wearing his gameday New England Patriots jersey. His friend slept beside him.

"We're both exhausted," Magana said. "We did an all-nighter."

They flew in Sunday and went straight to the stadium. After the game, they partied all night and arrived at the airport around 5 a.m. They didn't bother to book a hotel.

"It was the most amazing, epic game in the world," Magana said, before going back to sleep about a half-hour later.

The airport was filled with sleepy Super Bowl fans waiting for departing flights. Several slept on benches or in chairs. Others clutched cups of coffee.

Jeremy Odom was trying to finish his coffee before passing through security. He was feeling a little exhausted and a little hungover.

He attended the Super Bowl to celebrate his 40th birthday. Then his team lost.

"It's a lifestyle, you know, being a Falcons fan," he said. "Maybe next year, that's our sports motto."

All lanes open

Officials with the Houston Airport System were pleased with how the lines of travelers were moving early Monday. By 7 a.m., the wait to get through security at Terminal A South hadn't exceeded 10 minutes, and at Terminal A North it peaked at 13 minutes, said Gerry Phelan, federal security director for the Transportation Security Administration at Bush Intercontinental.

TSA opened all of its lanes at 4:15 a.m. It had placed additional officers and K-9 units throughout the airport. Phelan said he expects the rush to peak at about 10 a.m.

He reminded passengers to "bring your patience" and not to pack Super Bowl programs in their checked bags. The mass of the programs sets off alarms, and the bag has to be hand checked, slowing the process. Travelers were asked to carry the programs on board and to put them in a separate bin when going through security.

Overall, Bush Intercontinental is expecting 140,000 travelers Monday and Hobby Airport is expecting 40,000. About 70 percent of those are departing, compared with the usual 50-50 split among arriving and departing passengers, said Mario Diaz, director of the Houston Airport System.

"We expect this to be Thanksgiving on steroids," Diaz said.

The Airport System prepared for the rush by sending teams to airports in Phoenix and San Francisco, after the two most recent Super Bowls. A team from Minneapolis, host of Super Bowl LII next year, is here to learn from Houston's airport experience.

"I think everyone is subdued," Diaz said. "They were probably partying late last night."

Volunteers and police

At Hobby, twisting columns of colorful balloons greeted those departing Monday morning.

Super Bowl volunteers, dressed in red shirts, stood by to offer guidance. Police also could be easily found, as visitors funneled swiftly into the security line.

Patriots fans wore their jerseys, T-shirts and hats with pride. Falcons fans were harder to find.

Janette Reid made a celebratory fist as she passed another fan in Patriots gear headed through the lobby. She was joined by her brother David, 52, who said she'd bought them the tickets.

Both said they had faith their team would win. David, who has cancer and was in a wheelchair, said he'd known Tom Brady's mother, also diagnosed with cancer, was watching. He felt the game was dedicated to her.

"Brady, he's always going to come back," said David, carrying with him a bag of souvenirs to take home to Boston.

Patriots fans Mark Fuller, 67, and Steve Diorio, 57, were excited for their team but had a confession: They left before it ended.

Chances of a win for the Patriots seemed so small that they decided to leave 12 minutes before the end. As they walked away from NRG Stadium, they listened on a radio to what they were missing -- and they heard the cheers.

"We have the euphoria followed by 'What just happened?'" Fuller said.

People watching the game on a big screen in front of their apartment complex welcomed them to watch.

Headed back to the Boston area, they now could at least laugh about it.