(My Sportsbook) - Two teams riding four-game win streaks collide this week in Pittsburgh, where the first-place Steelers will try to keep Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons under wraps.

While both teams have identical records, it's Atlanta which has more urgency coming into this week's game. The Steelers have grabbed the top spot in the weak AFC North, but the Falcons find themselves in third place in the much more competitive NFC South.

For Atlanta to win at the hostile Heinz Field on Sunday, Vick will need to have a more successful game than he did a week ago. Against the Baltimore Ravens, Vick failed to post his typical gaudy statistics and threw his first interception of the season in Atlanta's 20-17 win. RB T.J. Duckett returned from a nagging foot injury and ran for a career-high 75 yards on 13 carries while reclaiming his job from Warrick Dunn as the primary rusher. Not to be overlooked, DE Patrick Kerney resumed his great season with a fumble recovery for a touchdown.

The playoff-hopeful Falcons know that they need to prepare for a tough matchup this week, since the Steelers have been playing at a high level as well.

"Both of us have won four games in a row. They've kind of turned things around from a slow start," said head coach Dan Reeves, who is one win away from gaining sole possession of sixth on the all-time list. "Of course they're a playoff team that lost to the Super Bowl Champions, so they're an outstanding football team, very well coached. They play very well anywhere, but particularly at home. So we've got our work cut out for us."

The Falcons played well enough to squeak by the Ravens last week, but another marginal performance won't be so successful this week since the Steelers are a much tougher foe. It all starts with Vick, who threw for a season-low 136 yards and ran seven times for minus-5 yards versus Baltimore. He ran for over 90 yards in the previous two weeks and must return to his old form if the Falcons expect to win in Pittsburgh.

Vick's playmaking ability is the heart and soul of Atlanta's winning ways, but Reeves believes that the team that establishes the best running game and avoids turnovers will come out victorious on Sunday.

"It's going to be the team that is able to run the football and not turn it over," Reeves said. "It's two good football teams that are playing and certainly they have the advantage by being at home. [It will be important] for us to go up there and handle the crowd noise and not make mistakes because you can't turn it over to a good football team.

"We have to do a good job trying to keep their offense off the field because they have been putting a lot of points on the board lately, particularly during their four-game winning streak."

Since Duckett is healthy, expect the rookie to get most of the carries again this week. Duckett leads all NFC rookies with 348 yards rushing and his 75 yards last Sunday was a career high. He averaged 5.8 yards per carry against Baltimore. The Steelers own the second-ranked rush defense in the AFC, allowing a mere 81.9 yards per game, which could be Atlanta's downfall.

Pittsburgh's 3-4 defensive scheme allows the Steelers to use four very athletic linebackers to corral Vick and force the Falcons to beat them with the run. But when Atlanta decides to pass, Reeves may decide to use short routes and possibly get RB Dunn involved in the short passing game.

"A lot of times when a team drops eight guys in the secondary and three guys rush, you have to be willing to take the shorter pass and not be looking deep," said Reeves. "You have to take what the defense will give you sometimes. Regardless of the situation you play field position. When they drop back like that they don't leave you a lot of room to run and so those are some things you have to recognize. We have to do a better job of attacking that and taking advantage of those things."

COMING UP: The Falcons host the New Orleans Saints in Week 11.