chase-down block in the final seconds.I had to kind of remind myself Im 57, | Forum

ATLANTA -- Four years after losing to San Francisco in the NFC championship game at the Georgia Dome, the Atlanta Falcons finally are moving closer to a return to the playoffs. Chuma Edoga Jersey .The 49ers are far from the playoffs as they try to end a franchise-record 12-game losing streak in Sundays game against the Falcons.The Falcons (8-5) are tied for the NFC South lead and hold the tiebreaker advantage over Tampa Bay. They are trying for their first winning record since finishing 13-3 with the loss to the 49ers in the NFC championship game to end their 2012 season.Quarterback Matt Ryan says hes not following other scores, including the Buccaneers, during games.I dont worry about it too much, Ryan said Wednesday. At the end of the day, we have to play our best. ... What everybody else does, if we handle our business it doesnt matter.Despite playing without injured wide receivers Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu, the Falcons rolled to a 42-14 win at the Los Angeles Rams last week.Atlanta may be without Jones , who has a sprained toe, for the second straight week. Sanu is expected to return from a groin injury.The Falcons average a league-leading 32.9 points per game as Ryan already has his sixth straight season with 4,000 yards passing. Its a tough test for the reeling 49ers (1-12), who are allowing the most points (30.2) per game in the league.Theyre as good of an offense as there is right now in the NFL, said Niners defensive coordinator Jim ONeil, who added Ryan is as good of a quarterback as you have right now in the NFL.The Falcons offense has strong balance. Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman each have seven rushing touchdowns. Ryan has thrown scoring passes to 11 targets, including to Justin Hardy and Taylor Gabriel last week.Theyre probably the most complete offense that weve faced all year, ONeil said. So itll be a challenge. Were going to have to play really good football.It was a confidence-building week for the Falcons.I think its always hard anytime you have your top two wide receivers down, Ryan said. Its tough to replace that. Our guys stepped up great.Here are some things to watch as the Falcons face the 49ers:NO FUMBLES: Freeman and Coleman have no fumbles in their combined 269 carries and 62 receptions. Freeman leads the team with 791 yards rushing. Coleman has 328 yards rushing.I have a ton of respect for them and the fact they havent fumbled the ball this year, thats incredible, left tackle Jake Matthews said. That goes to show you how hard theyve been working at it. In my mindset, that means you just keep giving them opportunities to make plays. Theyre really special players.FAST STARTS, SLOW FINISHES: Starting fast hasnt been a problem for the Niners, who have scored first in 10 of their 13 games. The problem has been San Francisco lost nine of those, tying the NFL record for most losses when scoring first, according to Pro Football Reference.The Niners blew their third 14-point lead of the season last week to the Jets. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been a big part of the problem. Kaepernick leads all qualifying QBs in passer rating (119.5), completion percentage (71.7) and yards per attempt (9.4) in the first half, while ranking last at 42.9 percent completions and 4.6 yards per attempt, and second worst with a 61.3 rating the rest of the game.If there was one thing we could do that we could change it, we would, Kaepernick said. There are a lot of things that play into that. But, once again, we have to be able to be better in the second half.BEASLEYS BREAKOUT: Atlanta second-year linebacker/defensive end Vic Beasley continued his breakout season with three sacks last week. He has 13 + sacks to share the NFL lead with Denvers Von Miller. Beasley leads the league with six forced fumbles, including one against the Rams he returned 21 yards for a touchdown.BUCKNERS BOOST: One of the rare bright spots for San Francisco has been the play of first-round defensive lineman DeForest Buckner. Buckner had two sacks against the Jets. Buckner has played the third-most defensive snaps of any defensive lineman in the league this season and has missed just six defensive plays the past five games, according to Pro Football Focus.Theres just no way you can take that guy out and theres no way he wants to be out, ONeil said.RUN AND HYDE: Carlos Hyde is coming off the best day of his career, having rushed 193 yards on just 17 carries last week against the Jets. Hyde had four runs of at least 20 yards, including 47- and 43-yarders, and also caught a 7-yard touchdown pass. Hyde needs just 121 yards over the final three games for his first career 1,000-yard season.---AP Sports Writer Josh Dubow in San Francisco contributed to this report.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Curtis Martin Jets Jersey .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. C.J. Mosley Jersey . - The Washington Redskins have cut defensive lineman Adam Carriker and punter Sav Rocca. http://www.jetsrookiestore.com/Jets-Wesley-Walker-Jersey/ . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. CLEVELAND -- Terry Francona viewed the mass of humanity from high above.Four months ago, the Indians manager watched on a TV in his office at Progressive Field as Clevelands streets overflowed during a joyous celebration honoring LeBron James and the Cavaliers for winning the NBA championship and stopping the citys 52-year title drought.There were fans hanging from street signs, clinging to the walls of parking garages -- everywhere. Francona wanted another look.I went up to the upper deck just because I wanted to watch the parade, he said Monday as the World Series returned from a weekend in Chicago. From that vantage point, I think they were expecting 700,000 and they about doubled it. And from up in the upper deck you could see the people coming across the bridge in droves.Francona wants to see them come again.After missing Sunday night on their initial swing, the Indians are home with two cracks at winning their first championship since 1948.Down 3-1 and desperate, Chicago manager Joe Maddon used fire-balling closer Aroldis Chapman to get the final eight outs in Game 5 as the Cubs beat the Indians 3-2 at raucous Wrigley Field to extend their season and send this Series packing.The Indians, who have been cast as underdogs throughout the postseason, can complete a remarkable run with one more win.Its the one Cleveland fans have waited 68 years to see, and would cap a year like no other in the citys sports history, which has been filled with more torment than triumph.Josh Tomlin, the longest-tenured player on Clevelands roster, starts Tuesday night in Game 6 against Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta, who held the Indians without a hit until the sixth inning of Game 2, a 5-1 Chicago victory.Tomlin will be starting on just three days rest for only the second time in his career, but adrenaline and a home crowd of more than 35,000 screaming fans should help him overcome any fatigue.The right-hander was terrific in Game 4, allowing only two hits in 4 2/3 innings as his dad, Jerry, who is paralyzed from the chest down and confined to a wheelchair, watched from behind home plate in noisy Chicago as Cleveland won 1-0.Tomlin threw just 58 pitches, so his arm should be fine. The bigger issue will be stifling the Cubs, who have momentum and will get slugger Kyle Schwarber back in the lineup as the designated hitter after he was reduced to one pinch-hitting appearannce during three games played under National League rules. Sam Darnold Jersey. The only other time Tomlin pitched on short rest was in his 2010 rookie season, when he gave up one run over 5 1/3 innings against Toronto.On the eve of the biggest start of his career, the 31-year-old Tomlin said hes approaching Game 6 like any other even though he knows it isnt.I know the atmosphere of this game is not the same, but its still the same game, he said. Between the lines its still 60 foot, 6 inches. Its still 90 feet to first base. Its still baseball. In the grand scheme of things its still the baseball game whenever the umpire says `Play ball! So thats how you have to treat it.Like any manager, Francona has his favorites and Tomlin is near the top of that list. They play cribbage together and as Francona turned the dais over to his starter following his news conference, Clevelands skipper couldnt pass up a chance to have some fun at Tomlins expense.If you guys have questions, he said to reporters, just use pictures.On a more serious note earlier, Francona said hes confident Tomlin will give the Indians everything he has.If Tomlin doesnt win, he wont beat himself, and he wont back down, he said. All the things we talk about, not backing down from a challenge and valuing winning and things like that -- being a good teammate, he embodies all those better or as good as anybody Ive ever seen.When the Cavs won their title in June, it was perhaps no coincidence the Indians took off on a 14-game winning streak that propelled them to the AL Central title. Cleveland players and fans fed off the vibe created by James and his teammates, who will be forever remembered as the team that changed the citys sports fortunes.Francona watched the Cavs win Game 7 at Golden State, and found himself cheering wildly at the games climactic moments -- Kyrie Irvings 3-pointer and James chase-down block in the final seconds.I had to kind of remind myself Im 57, he said with a laugh.Then Francona watched as Cleveland united as never before, 1 million people converging as one to rejoice for a team that lifted a trophy -- and then a town.There was sheer joy, he said. I just thought it was really cool. It was hard not to get caught up in it.Hed love to see it happen again. ' ' '