Falcons, Giants 1-2 in AP Pro32 power rankings

The Falcons received 10 first-place votes and 378 points from The Associated Press' 12-member panel of media members who regularly cover the NFL. The Giants, who beat the Redskins 27-23 on Eli Manning's 77-yard touchdown pass to Victor Cruz with 1:13 left in the game, had two first-place votes and 366 points.

Last week, the Giants had one-first place vote and trailed the Falcons by 17 points. The margin is 12 points this week.

"Who's better than Eli Manning in the last two minutes? Nobody," said Sporting News' Clifton Brown, who had the Giants first and the Falcons fifth on his ballot even though the defending Super Bowl champions have two losses.

The Falcons needed some last-minute heroics to pull out a few games, and Sunday they visit Philadelphia — a team also coming off a bye but unbeaten following its week off under coach Andy Reid.

"Falcons have been cutting it close in recent weeks, relying on some dramatic late-game drama from Matt & Matt (Ryan and Bryant)," said Newsday's Bob Glauber. "Might need more of the same on Sunday at Philly."

The Houston Texans rebounded from their loss to Green Bay by thumping the Baltimore Ravens 43-13 and moving up to third with 362 points. San Francisco was fourth with 344 points and Chicago fifth with 341 points.