The Atlanta Falcons outlasted the Washington Commanders in Week 4 to improve to 2-2 on the season. While Sunday’s win was a nice bounce-back effort, the Falcons have been fairly unpredictable from week to week. Perhaps the bye week will give the team a chance to iron out some of the issues that we’ve seen over the first four games.

On the bright side, Atlanta’s defense has been better than expected. Most assumed the offense would carry the team early on, but it’s been the other way around for the most part. The Falcons’ rookie class has been phenomenal thus far. Safety Xavier Woods won the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Month award for September.

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Offensively, the team has lacked consistency from week to week, but Bijan Robinson has been on a tear this season. The third-year running back just took home the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Month award and has nearly 600 total yards through the first four weeks.

So where do the Falcons stand in NFL.com’s latest power rankings? Eric Edholm placed the Atlanta at No. 20, which is two spots higher than last week.

After the bizarre shutout in Week 3, it was hard to know what we’d see from the Falcons’ offense against the Commanders, but Sunday was closer to what I expected before the season. Even with a bad pick, Michael Penix Jr. bounced back in a big way, and nearly all of Atlanta’s offensive stars contributed to the victory. The Falcons made some adjustments to their coaching staff prior to the game, and they seemed to pay off. Defensively, they were capable, even if they were leaky defending the run. I still don’t know what the Falcons are right now, but it has been more good than bad, even with the Panthers game still fresh in our minds. — Eric Edholm, NFL.com

The Falcons will need to show more consistency from week to week if they are going to earn respect around the league. Despite last week’s win, Atlanta’s 30-0 loss to the Carolina Panthers in Week 3 left most analysts scratching their heads.

When the Falcons return from their bye week, they will face the Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins. This next two-game stretch could potentially make or break Atlanta’s season.

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This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: NFL power rankings: Atlanta Falcons move up in Week 5