2012 NFL Power Rankings: Week 7 ESPN.com

Week: Select Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Are the Falcons a perfect team? Not exactly, but their unblemished record carries a lot of clout here.

Matt Ryan & Co. improved to 6-0 by narrowly escaping against Oakland in Week 6. That victory -- combined with Houston's first loss of the season -- made Atlanta, the only remaining unbeaten team, an easy choice at No. 1.

Whom do our voters (ESPN.com's John Clayton, ESPN.com's Ashley Fox, NFC East blogger Dan Graziano, AFC North blogger Jamison Hensley and NFC West blogger Mike Sando) like after that? Look no further than the defending Super Bowl champion Giants, who made the biggest gain among the top 10 teams from a week ago.

New York's convincing victory at San Francisco was good for a four-spot jump from No. 7 to No. 3. (The Giants actually tied Houston for second but lost the tiebreaker based on overall record.)

The Texans, who had owned the top spot for the past three weeks, fell back after being blasted at home by Green Bay on Sunday night.

Will Atlanta soon suffer the same fate, or does its reign have legs? After struggling to beat the lowly Raiders, the Falcons probably shouldn't be viewed as shoo-ins for the long haul. For now, though, their perfect record sets them apart.

• How they voted | Bloggers | Rank 'Em | Who's overrated, underrated? | Bettors' Poll | Mike & Mike | Team Power Rankings charts since 2002