Vick Up to His Tricks in Win

Joe Horn swallowed his pride and admitted he was wrong. Yes, the Atlanta Falcons have a 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 like Superman to score a touchdown, and the Falcons slowed down the New Orleans offense for a 24-17 victory Sunday -- their second victory over 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 move within a half-game of second-place New Orleans (7-3) in the NFC South. Tampa Bay (8-2) is alone in first after beating Carolina.

The Falcons were fired up by Horn, who claimed the Falcons 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.

“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.”

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

The most spectacular play came in the third quarter.

On third and goal from the New Orleans seven-yard line, 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.

Not so fast. Vick switched the ball to his left hand, planted his right foot at the two -- 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 amazing play gave Atlanta a 14-0 lead.

“We need to start calling him Houdini,” said receiver Trevor Gaylor, who hauled in a long pass from a scrambling Vick in the second quarter and turned it into a 74-yard scoring play. “He can find a way to get out of any situation.”