Atlanta ? Joe Horn swallowed his pride and admitted he was wrong. Yes, the Atlanta Falcons have a pretty good team, a worthy rival to his New Orleans Saints.

“It’s a rivalry now,” Horn said after firing up the Falcons by arguing to the contrary.

Michael Vick flew through the air on a touchdown run, while the Falcons slowed down the New Orleans offense for a 24-17 victory Sunday – their second victory against the Saints in four weeks.

“They whipped us twice,” Horn said. “They beat us. We are 0-and-2 against the Falcons. I’m a man. I can admit that.”

Atlanta (6-3-1) extended its unbeaten streak to six and crept within a half-game of New Orleans (7-3) in the NFC South.

The Falcons were fired up by Horn, who claimed they were lucky to win the first meeting 37-35 on a field goal as time ran out. He also said the Falcons were basically a one-man team, relying on Vick to carry them all the way to the Super Bowl.

“He was disrespecting a lot of people on our team,” defensive end Patrick Kerney said. “Mike is a great quarterback and he’s doing a lot of things. But a lot of people are contributing.”

The Falcons haven’t lost since an Oct. 6 defeat against Tampa Bay dropped them to 1-3. Since then, the only blemish is last week’s 34-34 tie against Pittsburgh. Even that outcome felt like a win, because Atlanta rallied from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

Vick put on another dazzling performance before a raucous Georgia Dome crowd of 70,382 – the second-largest turnout in Falcons history.

He threw two touchdown passes, but the most amazing play came on a short run in the third quarter.

On third-and-goal from the New Orleans 7, Vick took a shotgun snap, tucked the ball under his right arm and took off for the right corner. With several Saints closing in, he didn’t appear to have room to reach the end zone.

Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick, left, dives past New Orleans cornerback Dale Carter for a touchdown. The Falcons defeated the Saints, 24-17, Sunday in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

Not so fast. Vick switched the ball to his left hand, planted his right foot at the 2 – just inches from the boundary – and launched his body toward the goal line. Somehow, he managed to stick the ball across before a defender sent him sprawling out of bounds. The spectacular play gave Atlanta a 14-0 lead.

“We need to start calling him Houdini,” said Trevor Gaylor, who hauled in a 74-yard touchdown pass from Vick. “He can find a way to get out of any situation. He’s selling himself out to get us the win. He’s not worried about getting hurt.”

Vick ran seven times for 55 yards and was 11-of-23 passing.

In the second quarter, Vick ad-libbed a play that came right off the schoolyard, resulting in the long TD pass to Gaylor.

Rolling left to escape pressure, Vick motioned to Gaylor to go deep, then hit him in stride more than 50 yards down the field. Jay Bellamy fell down trying to keep up, allowing the Atlanta receiver to high-step the final 10 yards.

“Basically, it was a broken play,” Gaylor said. “The slant play wasn’t there. Mike told me to go deep. When I caught it, there was no one around me, so I had time to dance into the end zone.”

The Falcons’ defense had a lot of prove after giving up a franchise-record 645 yards in the tie at Pittsburgh. New Orleans, leading the NFL in scoring, didn’t reach the end zone until Aaron Brooks threw a quick slant to Horn that turned into a 57-yard touchdown pass with 11:54 remaining.

Deuce McAllister, who ran all over the Falcons in the first meeting, was held to 43 yards on 13 carries. He didn’t play for much of the fourth quarter after spraining his right ankle.

“They did a pretty good job of stopping our offense,” McAllister said. “They did a great job on me.”

Titans 31, Steelers 23

Nashville, Tenn. – The Tennessee Titans’ best game in nearly two seasons was overshadowed Sunday by an injury to Pittsburgh quarterback Tommy Maddox that sent him to a hospital strapped to a stretcher.

Steve McNair threw two touchdown passes to Kevin Dyson and Eddie George ran for two more as the Titans won fifth straight.

The Titans (6-4) snapped a five-game unbeaten streak for the Steelers (5-4-1). They moved two games above .500 for the first time since December 2000, and remained tied with Indianapolis for the AFC South lead.

Eagles 38, Cardinals 14

Philadelphia – Donovan McNabb threw for four touchdowns despite breaking his right ankle on the third play of the game.

Unable to scramble, McNabb stayed in the pocket and threw TD passes of two yards to James Thrash, three yards to Dorsey Levens, 27 to Todd Pinkston and nine to Duce Staley in the first half.

McNabb finished 20-of-25 for 255 yards and one interception, but had no rushing attempts for the first time in 53 career starts, including playoffs. Strangely, the Cardinals rarely blitzed McNabb even though he was hobbled.

Broncos 31, Seahawks 9

Seattle – Steve Beuerlein delivered when the Denver Broncos needed him most, throwing two fourth-quarter touchdown passes after Brian Griese left with a sprained knee.

Clinton Portis ran for 136 yards on 23 carries and Deltha O’Neal returned a late interception 22 yards for a TD as the Broncos (7-3) rebounded from an embarrassing Monday night loss to Oakland.

Griese left late in the third quarter. Beuerlein then tossed a one-yard TD pass on fourth down to diving tight end Patrick Hape, giving the Broncos a 17-6 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter.

The struggling Seahawks (3-7) failed to score a touchdown for the second straight game at home.

Vikings 31, Packers 21

Minneapolis – Daunte Culpepper threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, and the Vikings intercepted Brett Favre three times.

The Packers (8-2) have lost nine of 11 at the Metrodome and missed a chance to become the earliest team to clinch a division title in a 16-game season. They had won seven straight games.

Michael Bennett ran for 130 yards on 20 carries. His 62-yard run just before the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter set up a three-yard touchdown run by Moe Williams :quot; his 10th of the year for the Vikings (3-7).

Chargers 20, 49ers 17, OT

San Diego – Steve Christie made a 40-yard field goal with 4:11 left in overtime.

Christie got his chance because San Francisco’s Jose Cortez was wide right on a 41-yard attempt. It was Cortez’s fourth miss in three weeks, including two in regulation at Oakland on Nov. 3 before he won that game in overtime with a 23-yarder.

The Chargers (7-3) tied it on Drew Brees’ 1-yard pass to Fred McCrary with 31 seconds remaining in regulation.

Bucs 23, Panthers 10

Tampa, Fla. – Brad Johnson threw for 253 yards and two touchdowns, and the NFL’s top-ranked defense forced four turnovers as the Bucs (8-2) took sole possession of the NFC South lead.

Tampa Bay has its best record ever after 10 games. With New Orleans losing at Atlanta, the Bucs sit alone atop the division heading into crucial games the next two weeks against Green Bay and the Saints.

Johnson threw a one-yard TD pass to Keyshawn Johnson in the second quarter, then snapped a 10-10 tie with a 22-yarder to Keenan McCardell late in the third quarter.

Dolphins 26, Ravens 7

Miami – Miami held Baltimore to a season-low 157 yards, and Ray Lucas finally notched his first win as a Dolphins quarterback, throwing for 221 yards.

Miami (6-4) ended a streak of three consecutive losses, all with Lucas starting for Jay Fiedler, who will likely miss two more games with a broken thumb.

Ricky Williams tied a team record with his fifth 100-yard rushing game, 102 yards in 26 carries, and scored on runs of two and four yards.

Jets 31, Lions 14

Detroit – Chad Pennington threw a career-high four touchdowns, two to Wayne Chrebet. The Jets (5-5) have won three straight and four of five, turning around their season after a 1-4 start.

Since 1997, the Jets have won an NFL-best 27 games on the road and are 9-3 as visitors in one-plus seasons under coach Herman Edwards.

Pennington was 21-of-26 for 229 yards with one interception. Laveranues Coles caught seven passes for 114 yards and Curtis Martin ran for 112 yards.

Colts 20, Cowboys 3

Indianapolis – Peyton Manning threw two late touchdown passes to Marvin Harrison, Mike Vanderjagt made two field goals and the Colts forced two late turnovers.

Harrison, the NFL’s leading receiver, caught 14 passes for 138 yards, becoming the first player in the league to top 1,000 yards this season, and caught his 600th career pass. Harrison reached that mark in 102 games, 16 games faster than anyone in NFL history.

Browns 27, Bengals 20

Cincinatti – Tim Couch matched his career high with three touchdown passes and Cleveland’s defense stopped Corey Dillon twice from point-blank range.

A crowd of 64,060, the second largest ever at Paul Brown Stadium, watched the Browns (5-5) stay in playoff contention by keeping Dillon out of the end zone.

Jaguars 24, Texans 21

Houston – The Jaguars didn’t have to endure the embarrassment of losing to an expansion team twice in one season.

Mark Brunell passed for 224 yards and two touchdowns, atoning for a loss to the first-year team three weeks ago.

The Jaguars remain the only expansion team to beat an opponent twice in one season. Jacksonville, in its first season in 1995, beat Cleveland twice.

Giants 19, Redskins 17

East Rutherford, N.J. – Giants rookie tight end Jeremy Shockey caught 11 passes for 111 yards and Matt Bryant kicked four field goals in a game made ugly by steady rain, turnovers and a 10-minute fourth-quarter video review.

Shockey’s 11 catches were six less than all the Giants’ tight ends had last year.

Bryant, who had missed three of his last four attempts, rallied the Giants from a 17-10 third-quarter deficit with field goals of 34, 33 and 19 yards.

Raiders 27, Patriots 20

Oakland, Calif. – The Raiders kept the officials and their “tuck rule” out of it by taking an early lead beating the Patriots in the teams’ first meeting since their infamous playoff battle last January.

Rich Gannon threw for 297 yards, and the Raiders (6-4) won their second straight game after losing four straight.

The Patriots were trailing 13-10 in the fourth quarter last season when Tom Brady fumbled in the snow, only to have the officials rule that it actually was an incomplete pass. The Pats went on to win the Super Bowl, while the Raiders stewed.