Ragnow to effectively replace Travis Swanson.
Добавлено: Чт авг 23, 2018 12:54 pmQuarterback Matt Ryan has another shot at a happy homecoming.
A berth in the NFC championship game is at stake when Ryan leads the Atlanta Falcons (11-6) against the Philadelphia Eagles (13-3) in a divisional playoff Saturday. Ryan http://www.cowboysauthorizedshops.com/authentic-michael-gallup-jersey , who grew up rooting for the Eagles and went to Philadelphia’s William Penn Charter School, is 1-3 at the Linc.
”I’m used to it now,” Ryan said about returning home. ”Playing as long as I have, I understand regardless of where we play you have to be at your best every week. The one nice part is there will be a lot of familiar faces, friendly faces after the game, which is always nice.”
Ryan had his worst game of his MVP season last year in Atlanta’s 24-15 loss in Philly on Nov. 13, 2016. He was 18 of 33 for 267 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
”Obviously, there will be some scheme from that game that we’ll take, what went well and what didn’t go well and try to improve on that,” Ryan said. ”We’re a different team than we were last year when we played them and they’re a different team. It will be some carry over, but it will be a little bit different.”
Here’s some things to watch for when the teams meet in the playoffs for the first time since Philadelphia’s win over Michael Vick’s Falcons in the 2005 NFC championship game:
NICK’S UP: Nick Foles makes his fourth start since replacing Carson Wentz after the MVP candidate tore his ACL in Week 14. Foles played well in his first five quarters and struggled in the next five. He’s certainly a drop-off from Wentz, but he’s also capable of spectacular performances. Foles once tossed seven TDs in a game in 2013. He had four TDs in his first start in Week 15.
”There’s enough substance behind his career that merits having confidence,” Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich said.
`NORTHEAST’ NOISE: There’s crowd noise, and then there’s the noise generated by Philadelphia fans known for their intensity.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn seemed to search for a polite term to compare Eagles fans with the fans the team heard in last week’s wild-card win at the Los Angeles Rams.
”I’m not going to say more passionate Authentic Paul Worrilow Jersey , but I would say more Northeast,” Quinn said with a smile.
The Falcons have pumped in artificial noise in practice this week but will lean heavily on Ryan and center Alex Mack to use their experience with silent counts and hand signals.
”That’s huge,” said tight end Levine Toilolo. ”That’s where it all starts, coming off the ball, the cadence and stuff like that. We definitely work on that every week. Their fans, we’re expecting a loud crowd in a big playoff game.”
Mack said he expects Philadelphia’s fans ”to be really dedicated, really loud, really involved. So it’s going to be a challenge just in terms of crowd noise.”
COMFORT ZONE: After leading the league in scoring in 2016, the Falcons finished the regular season 15th with first-year offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.
Atlanta averaged 22.1 points per game, down from 33.8 last season.
Ryan says he has become more comfortable with Sarkisian, especially the last two weeks in wins over Carolina and the Rams.
”I think Sark has done a great job of finding who we are week to week, specifically the last two weeks I think he’s done a great job,” Ryan said.
STOPPING JULIO: The Eagles had some success against Julio Jones in their win last year, keeping him out of the end zone but allowing 10 catches for 135 yards. Jalen Mills held him to four catches for 48 yards when he was matched up against Jones. The second-year pro is confident he can contain Jones again. Ronald Darby will have to cover Jones when he’s on his side.
”You have to think the ball is coming to him each and every play Cheap Customized Pittsburgh Steelers Jerseys ,” Mills said. ”Whether they’re having a run or a pass play, you’ve just got to think the ball is coming to him.”
MULTIPLE BACKS: Both teams have options in the backfield. The Falcons are led by Devonta Freeman, who had 865 yards rushing and seven TDs. Tevin Coleman had 628 yards rushing and five TDs. LeGarrette Blount led the Eagles with 766 yards rushing and scored two TDs. Jay Ajayi had 873 yards rushing and one TD combined with the Dolphins and Eagles. He ran for 130 yards against Atlanta in Miami’s win on Oct. 15.
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AP Sports Writer Charles Odum contributed to this report.
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AP NFL website:
TORONTO — The clinching number for the Toronto Raptors is one.
They need to win one of their remaining four games to clinch first place in the Eastern Conference. In the unlikely event of that not happening, one loss by the second-place Boston Celtics, who also have four games left, would also wrap up the East.
Toronto could get the job done by defeating the Indiana Pacers on Friday night at the Air Canada Centre.
The Raptors (56-22) defeated the undermanned Celtics 96-78 on Wednesday night at the ACC to move three games ahead of Boston in the conference.
Meanwhile, the Pacers (47-32) defeated the Golden State Warriors 126-106 at home Thursday night, led by 28 points from Bojan Bogdanovic. They have won six of seven — including two wins over the Warriors without Steph Curry — and are fifth in the Eastern Conference, two games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers and 1 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia 76ers.
“I thought it was a big test tonight,” Indiana coach Nate McMillan said. “I really was looking forward to playing them with their roster tonight, just to see where we were. That’s a really good team. I thought our guys responded well to the challenge.”
Despite being on the verge of clinching home-court advantage in the playoffs, Raptors coach Dwane Casey was trying to keep it in perspective. The victory over Boston followed a loss in Cleveland on Tuesday night.
“We’re not excited, we know we got some other games to go, some other things to get better at; we’re looking at big picture Mike McGlinchey Jersey 49ers ,” Casey said after the game Wednesday. “One game, we still have some things to get better at. I liked our defense, I thought our defensive focus was there, our attention to detail, guys were where they were supposed to be, a few hiccups but a big improvement over (Tuesday) night.
“Again, it’s about competition, it’s about competing at a high level. With a big picture in mind, not just trying to win that one game we’re trying to do something special.”
Toronto guard DeMar DeRozan, who scored 16 points Wednesday, said the games leading into the playoffs are important.
“What do we have, four games left? Every single one is extremely important because once next weekend starts you know, it’s literally win or go home,” DeRozan said. “It’s no ‘my bads’ or I get the next one Da'Ron Payne Jersey Elite , so these four games are critical and us playing extremely hard and having a rhythm and understanding, our confidence has to be at an all-time high going into next week.”
With the victory over the Celtics, the Raptors matched their franchise best for overall wins in a season (56) and wins at home (32).
Toronto holds a 2-1 advantage over the Pacers this season, including a 106-99 victory at Indianapolis on March 15 in the most recent meeting.
DeRozan scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half against Indiana in that game.
The Pacers hold a head-to-head tiebreaker over the 76ers (2-1 this year) and Cavaliers (3-1). Both teams have relatively easy schedules remaining, however, so that might not become a factor. The Cavaliers and 76ers do play each other before the season ends.
Indiana has endured a difficult schedule that included visits to Golden State, Sacramento, Los Angeles (against the Clippers) and Denver.
The Pacers will be facing the Raptors on the second half of back-to-back games.
“It’s going to get us bull-tough and battle tested,” Indiana forward Thaddeus Young said. “It’s definitely prepping us for the task at hand, which is going to the playoffs. We’ve been doing a good job of handing it, going out there and staying focused and locked in. This road trip has been tough. … I don’t know who made the schedule, but this is crazy.”
The Pacers have lost eight games in a row at Toronto.
.
A berth in the NFC championship game is at stake when Ryan leads the Atlanta Falcons (11-6) against the Philadelphia Eagles (13-3) in a divisional playoff Saturday. Ryan http://www.cowboysauthorizedshops.com/authentic-michael-gallup-jersey , who grew up rooting for the Eagles and went to Philadelphia’s William Penn Charter School, is 1-3 at the Linc.
”I’m used to it now,” Ryan said about returning home. ”Playing as long as I have, I understand regardless of where we play you have to be at your best every week. The one nice part is there will be a lot of familiar faces, friendly faces after the game, which is always nice.”
Ryan had his worst game of his MVP season last year in Atlanta’s 24-15 loss in Philly on Nov. 13, 2016. He was 18 of 33 for 267 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
”Obviously, there will be some scheme from that game that we’ll take, what went well and what didn’t go well and try to improve on that,” Ryan said. ”We’re a different team than we were last year when we played them and they’re a different team. It will be some carry over, but it will be a little bit different.”
Here’s some things to watch for when the teams meet in the playoffs for the first time since Philadelphia’s win over Michael Vick’s Falcons in the 2005 NFC championship game:
NICK’S UP: Nick Foles makes his fourth start since replacing Carson Wentz after the MVP candidate tore his ACL in Week 14. Foles played well in his first five quarters and struggled in the next five. He’s certainly a drop-off from Wentz, but he’s also capable of spectacular performances. Foles once tossed seven TDs in a game in 2013. He had four TDs in his first start in Week 15.
”There’s enough substance behind his career that merits having confidence,” Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich said.
`NORTHEAST’ NOISE: There’s crowd noise, and then there’s the noise generated by Philadelphia fans known for their intensity.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn seemed to search for a polite term to compare Eagles fans with the fans the team heard in last week’s wild-card win at the Los Angeles Rams.
”I’m not going to say more passionate Authentic Paul Worrilow Jersey , but I would say more Northeast,” Quinn said with a smile.
The Falcons have pumped in artificial noise in practice this week but will lean heavily on Ryan and center Alex Mack to use their experience with silent counts and hand signals.
”That’s huge,” said tight end Levine Toilolo. ”That’s where it all starts, coming off the ball, the cadence and stuff like that. We definitely work on that every week. Their fans, we’re expecting a loud crowd in a big playoff game.”
Mack said he expects Philadelphia’s fans ”to be really dedicated, really loud, really involved. So it’s going to be a challenge just in terms of crowd noise.”
COMFORT ZONE: After leading the league in scoring in 2016, the Falcons finished the regular season 15th with first-year offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.
Atlanta averaged 22.1 points per game, down from 33.8 last season.
Ryan says he has become more comfortable with Sarkisian, especially the last two weeks in wins over Carolina and the Rams.
”I think Sark has done a great job of finding who we are week to week, specifically the last two weeks I think he’s done a great job,” Ryan said.
STOPPING JULIO: The Eagles had some success against Julio Jones in their win last year, keeping him out of the end zone but allowing 10 catches for 135 yards. Jalen Mills held him to four catches for 48 yards when he was matched up against Jones. The second-year pro is confident he can contain Jones again. Ronald Darby will have to cover Jones when he’s on his side.
”You have to think the ball is coming to him each and every play Cheap Customized Pittsburgh Steelers Jerseys ,” Mills said. ”Whether they’re having a run or a pass play, you’ve just got to think the ball is coming to him.”
MULTIPLE BACKS: Both teams have options in the backfield. The Falcons are led by Devonta Freeman, who had 865 yards rushing and seven TDs. Tevin Coleman had 628 yards rushing and five TDs. LeGarrette Blount led the Eagles with 766 yards rushing and scored two TDs. Jay Ajayi had 873 yards rushing and one TD combined with the Dolphins and Eagles. He ran for 130 yards against Atlanta in Miami’s win on Oct. 15.
—
AP Sports Writer Charles Odum contributed to this report.
—
AP NFL website:
TORONTO — The clinching number for the Toronto Raptors is one.
They need to win one of their remaining four games to clinch first place in the Eastern Conference. In the unlikely event of that not happening, one loss by the second-place Boston Celtics, who also have four games left, would also wrap up the East.
Toronto could get the job done by defeating the Indiana Pacers on Friday night at the Air Canada Centre.
The Raptors (56-22) defeated the undermanned Celtics 96-78 on Wednesday night at the ACC to move three games ahead of Boston in the conference.
Meanwhile, the Pacers (47-32) defeated the Golden State Warriors 126-106 at home Thursday night, led by 28 points from Bojan Bogdanovic. They have won six of seven — including two wins over the Warriors without Steph Curry — and are fifth in the Eastern Conference, two games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers and 1 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia 76ers.
“I thought it was a big test tonight,” Indiana coach Nate McMillan said. “I really was looking forward to playing them with their roster tonight, just to see where we were. That’s a really good team. I thought our guys responded well to the challenge.”
Despite being on the verge of clinching home-court advantage in the playoffs, Raptors coach Dwane Casey was trying to keep it in perspective. The victory over Boston followed a loss in Cleveland on Tuesday night.
“We’re not excited, we know we got some other games to go, some other things to get better at; we’re looking at big picture Mike McGlinchey Jersey 49ers ,” Casey said after the game Wednesday. “One game, we still have some things to get better at. I liked our defense, I thought our defensive focus was there, our attention to detail, guys were where they were supposed to be, a few hiccups but a big improvement over (Tuesday) night.
“Again, it’s about competition, it’s about competing at a high level. With a big picture in mind, not just trying to win that one game we’re trying to do something special.”
Toronto guard DeMar DeRozan, who scored 16 points Wednesday, said the games leading into the playoffs are important.
“What do we have, four games left? Every single one is extremely important because once next weekend starts you know, it’s literally win or go home,” DeRozan said. “It’s no ‘my bads’ or I get the next one Da'Ron Payne Jersey Elite , so these four games are critical and us playing extremely hard and having a rhythm and understanding, our confidence has to be at an all-time high going into next week.”
With the victory over the Celtics, the Raptors matched their franchise best for overall wins in a season (56) and wins at home (32).
Toronto holds a 2-1 advantage over the Pacers this season, including a 106-99 victory at Indianapolis on March 15 in the most recent meeting.
DeRozan scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half against Indiana in that game.
The Pacers hold a head-to-head tiebreaker over the 76ers (2-1 this year) and Cavaliers (3-1). Both teams have relatively easy schedules remaining, however, so that might not become a factor. The Cavaliers and 76ers do play each other before the season ends.
Indiana has endured a difficult schedule that included visits to Golden State, Sacramento, Los Angeles (against the Clippers) and Denver.
The Pacers will be facing the Raptors on the second half of back-to-back games.
“It’s going to get us bull-tough and battle tested,” Indiana forward Thaddeus Young said. “It’s definitely prepping us for the task at hand, which is going to the playoffs. We’ve been doing a good job of handing it, going out there and staying focused and locked in. This road trip has been tough. … I don’t know who made the schedule, but this is crazy.”
The Pacers have lost eight games in a row at Toronto.
.