ATLANTA — The Atlanta Falcons are the NFL's top-scoring team, because of quarterback Matt Ryan's recharged passing attack.
    Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers are right behind.
    Ryan and the Falcons will face the Rivers-led Chargers on Sunday in a showdown of the league's top scoring offenses.
    The Falcons (4-2) have had good balance and a surprising downfield passing attack while averaging 33.2 points per game.
    They also lead the league with 441.5 yards per game, almost 40 more than the second-place Saints.
    San Diego (2-4) is averaging 28.8 points despite ranking only in the middle of the pack in total yards (355.2).
    Perhaps the biggest surprise is Atlanta's NFL-best 30 passes of at least 20 yards.
    Ryan has 15 TD passes with only three interceptions while leading the NFL with 2,075 yards passing. He already is closing in on his 2015 total of 21 TD passes.
    Julio Jones, averaging 21.2 yards on his team-leading 31 catches, says defenses still don't respect Ryan's arm strength.
    "They don't think he's going to throw the ball down the field," Jones said Thursday.
    "We've got to continue to make them pay. They underestimate us ... We're making believers out of a lot of people now that we're going to throw the ball down the field. Matt has been phenomenal this year with deep balls."
    Jones said second-year offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan is "letting it loose."
    "If we see something in the game and we tell him, he dials it up," Jones said. "There's no second-guessing. He believes in us and we believe in him."
    The Chargers snapped a three-game losing streak with last week's 21-13 home win over Denver.
    "Winning against Denver was big," Rivers said. "We needed to feel what's it's like to finish out a game and win ... so we're coming to Atlanta with a ton of confidence. We know we're playing a good team. ... We know they've got a heck of an explosive offense and we're excited about the challenge."