Pirate Galaxy » ing competitive wasnt eno

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- The previous time the 49ers traveled to play quarterback Matt Ryan in Atlanta, the stakes were high.It was the NFC championship game in January 2013, when Ryan and the top-seeded Falcons were looking to make their second Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.Ryan was having the best season of his career, but ran into San Franciscos defense.The 49ers rallied for a 28-24 victory, culminated by a fourth-down pass break-up from NaVorro Bowman with 1:13 remaining, sending Jim Harbaughs team to the Super Bowl.It was going good for us, we were rolling, said cornerback Tramaine Brock, one of San Franciscos eight remaining players that played in that game. Champagne shower in the locker room.Fast forward nearly four years and the Falcons offense again looks championship-caliber, only Ryan is having an even better season.Hes having a MVP-type season quarterbacking the leagues highest-scoring offense. His 113.2 passer rating is far better than his previous career high of 99.1 from that 2012 season.San Francisco (1-12), meanwhile, is looking to end its franchise-worst losing streak at 12. There wont be any champagne flowing in the locker room while the 49ers try to avoid finishing with fewer than two wins for the first time in history.Ryan says hes benefiting from being in the second season of coordinator Kyle Shanahans offense.49ers coach Chip Kelly said it doesnt matter what offense Ryans running.Matts one of those quarterbacks that transcends any system, he said. Hes had a couple different coordinators and been successful with whoever was coaching him. Thats just the type of player he is. I think hes an elite quarterback.Ryan ranks second in passer rating, second in yards (4,050), tied for second in touchdown passes (30) and fourth in completion rate (68.3 percent).I think everybodys a little bit more comfortable, year two in the system, and understands just the ins and outs and the nuances of the system a little bit better, Ryan said during a conference call. I think were more comfortable and I think weve got some more good players.Ryan has had new options at his disposal, including speedy receiver Taylor Gabriel and Mohamed Sanu, whos turned into a valuable partner to Julio Jones, the NFLs leader in yards receiving.But Ryan was without Jones (toe) and Sanu (groin) last week when the Falcons traveled to play the struggling Rams.It didnt matter as Ryan threw three touchdown passes in the 42-14 win. Gabriel caught a 64-yard touchdown pass, his fourth, all 25 yards or longer.I thought our guys stepped up and played really well. Its not easy when youre top two guys go down, Ryan said. I thought our guys didnt blink.Jones hasnt practiced this week and is uncertain to play Sunday against the 49ers last-ranked defense. Sanu has been limited.The 49ers will likely be without receiver Torrey Smith, who sustained a concussion when he slammed his head into the turf on an incompletion in the third quarter of the overtime loss to the Jets.Smith lost consciousness, he said, and has a gap in his memory spanning from when the play was called to his drive home after the game.Hes been in the concussion protocol this week and has yet to return to practice, but says hes improving.I dont remember anything. So, thats just one of the things that comes with it, Smith said. 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Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal has said the team has to shake off any satisfaction of having been competitive in the Chittagong Test against England in order to focus on the second Test in Mirpur. The buzz from the 22-run defeat was still present, however, as the team trained on Wednesday.Everyone is saying that we played well but we have discussed as a team that we cannot be so happy with so little, Tamim said. We wont be able to improve if we have that mentality. I know we were competitive but we should have won the game. We can take positives from the first Test, like we competed for five days. It would have been a different story had we won the game.I know our Test record isnt great but we will try our best in every way to win the next game, which is a belief that is held by every cricketer who plays for Bangladesh. We will try to do our job properly from the first to last ball.The Chittagong Test was Bangladeshs narrowest loss in terms of runs, the previous being the 77-run defeat to West Indies in 2012. Tamim, who made 78 in the first innings, said being competitive wasnt enough anymore; Bangladesh have won only seven out of 94 Tests.Tamim said the team was less focused on the toss, the pitch, or DRS ahead of the second Test, and more on improving the batting annd bowling.ddddddddddddI think the less I talk about the last game, the better, he said. It was a good Test match, but we lost in the end. Five years from now, it will read that we lost the game. We should stick to the processes and planning that we have. We are discussing more on what we can do with bat and ball, not on the wicket or the toss.It is not easy to return to cricket after 14 months but I think the players adapted very well. The batsmen moved from T20s to ODIs to Test cricket. We have a number of Tests in the next six months, so we want to use the rhythm from the Chittagong Test for the future.Tamim said Bangladesh should do better in favourable conditions and batsmen should look to score more runs after they were set. The wicket in Chittagong was in our favour but we still lost the game. We have to reduce our mistakes and bowl according to the wicket.Batting wasnt easy on that wicket but we had our moments. I think we should have stretched those moments a bit. If the wicket remains the same in Dhaka, the batsman should score 20-25 runs more after they are settled.The second Test against England begins in Mirpur on October 28. ' ' '