lcons season, just as he wouldnt give up in the closing minutes of a lopsided loss to Seattle. Smith was c

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. - Mike Smith is not giving up on the Falcons season, just as he wouldnt give up in the closing minutes of a lopsided loss to Seattle. Smith was criticized for exposing quarterback Matt Ryan and others to injuries by leaving them on the field late in Sundays 33-10 loss to the Seahawks. The coach said he wouldnt abandon the idea of trying to win. Similarly, Smith said Monday he hasnt given up on the season even when three straight ugly losses have left the Falcons 2-7. The Falcons already have matched the high mark for losses in Smiths first five seasons — a 9-7 finish in 2009. Atlanta trails first-place New Orleans by five games in the NFC South. Smith said hes heard plenty of negative talk about the outlook for the remainder of the season, including this weeks game at Tampa Bay. "This season is not over," Smith said. "I know people want to say doom and gloom. Thats not the case. Weve not played the type of football that wed like to play in the first nine games. It is well below our expectations and were going to continue to work and get ready to play the Buccaneers." Smith acknowledged there must be improvement on both lines and in the running game. In his third game back from a hamstring injury, Steven Jackson was held to 11 yards rushing on nine carries. Seattles Marshawn Lynch ran for 145 yards and a touchdown, and Smith said Seattle dominated both lines. "I think we did not win the physical battle ... they won that handily," Smith said. "I felt like they won the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football. Thats where games are won and lost." As a result, Jackson often had no chance. "Of course Im frustrated," Jackson said. "The thing about it is you have to keep chipping away. No one is going to come in the locker room and save us. We have to save ourselves. ... We cant dwell on it. One thing about being a professional, you have to acknowledge the things you made a mistake on and move on to the next one." The Falcons quickly fell so far behind that they abandoned any hope of balancing their offence in the second half. Ryan had to carry the load. "On our first possession of the second half, we were down 26-3, and at that time your run game basically goes out the window," Smith said. It was not a new problem. "I know that Steven is a guy who gets stronger as the game goes on," Smith said. "Unfortunately, in the last three weeks the game has gotten so out of hand coming out after halftime weve had to basically ditch the run and start throwing the football, so we havent had an opportunity to really concentrate on running the ball for 60 minutes." Left tackle Sam Baker was held out with a knee injury. He has missed five games this season. He played on Nov. 3 against Carolina but couldnt stay off the inactive list two straight weeks. "Yes, it is a concern when youre not able to play consecutive games," Smith said. The offensive line lost centre Todd McClure, who retired, and right tackle Tyson Clabo, who was released, from the 2012 starting unit. Mike Johnson, who was expected to replace Clabo, was lost for the season when he dislocated his left ankle and broke his left leg in training camp. With Bakers ongoing knee problem added to the mix, the lack of continuity on the line has been a constant issue that resurfaced against Seattle. "A couple of our opportunities to run it, we never got a chance to get it going," Smith said. "There were some individuals and individual blocks and combination blocks that were executed very well and there were some blocks that were not executed very well on the same play. As a unit, youve got to hit on all your blocks if youre going to have a chance to have a successful running play." Smith said linebacker Sean Weatherspoon will be activated off the injured reserve list by Wednesday. Weatherspoon, one of the defences leaders, has been out since hurting his foot the second week of the season. Smith said he had no update on tight end Tony Gonzalez, who briefly left Sundays game with a toe injury. ___ AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org Travis Konecny Jersey . At Manchester United, Ferguson developed Beckham into one of the worlds most recognizable sportsmen, but the midfielder left United in 2003 for Real Madrid under a cloud after his relationship with the manager broke down. Cheap Flyers Jerseys .J. -- Kyle Palmieri thrilled his personal rooting section with an overtime winner that sent the Anaheim Ducks to their seventh straight win. http://www.cheapflyersjerseyschina.com/shayne-gostisbehere-jersey/ . The 28-year-old lefty made his MLB debut in 2013, making 10 starts and going 2-5 with 4.05 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. Albers was named the Twins organizations minor league pitcher of the year for 2013. Sean Couturier Jersey . Gough finished in fourth, 0.433 seconds behind American Erin Hamlin, who took the bronze medal at the Sanki Sliding Center in Rzhanaya Polyana. Matt Read Jersey . -- Jerome Williams glanced at Philadelphias schedule and realized he would be facing the Oakland Athletics yet again, with another new team.ANGELHOLM, Sweden - Andre Burakowsky scored and added an assist, while Lukas Bengtsson and Andreas Johnson had goals for Sweden, as they shut out Canada 3-0 on Sunday in an exhibition warmup before the under-20 mens world hockey championship. Marcus Hogberg stopped all 21 shots he faced in net for Sweden. Jake Paterson made 31 saves in net for Canada. Burakowsky opened the scoring for Sweden at the 2:37 mark of the second period. A backhand pass by Jacob de la Rose from behind the goal confused Paterson, leaving a wide-open net for Burakowsky. Canadian defenceman Mathew Dumba was given a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for kneeing forward Erik Karlsson. Karlsson did not return to the ice after the incident. Johnson took advantage of Dumbaas penalty, making it 2-0 with a second left in the five-minute power play.ddddddddddddThe Swede scored from the slot, one-timing a pass from behind the goal-line by Alexander Wennberg. Bengtsson also scored on the power play 2:35 into the third period. The Canadians struggled in the first period, getting outshot 16-5 but the score was tied 0-0 at the first intermission. Burakowsky had earned the ire of the Canadian delegation before the exhibition game when he asserted that the Swedish team would be stronger in the tournament. "I know what kind of team Canada will be showing up with and if I take a look at what they have and compare them to what we have, I would have to say on paper, we have a much better team," said Burakowsky. 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