TAMPA, Fla. -- At the risk of riling some critics who insist hes too nice on the football field, Tampa Bays Gerald McCoy concedes he has a deep admiration for Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan.The four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle stresses, however, that sportsmanship should never be mistaken for a lack of commitment to do whatever is necessary to win.When the Buccaneers (3-4) host the NFC South-leading Falcons (5-3) on Thursday night, McCoy intends to do everything he can to make the NFLs passing yardage leader uncomfortable.Matty Ice is Matty Ice. I love the guy, said McCoy, whos been criticized at times by fans who feels he often shows too much reverence for opposing players.The seventh-year pro is unapologetic about saying kind things about star players or occasionally helping another teams quarterback to his feet after a sack.Hes a nice guy, hes a great player, so what? I love football and I respect him. Hes a great player and he makes you go play a lot harder, McCoy said. Ill shake his hand before and after the game, and during the game Ill try to kill him. ... It is what it is. Weve just got to stop him. Its OK to be nice. Its OK to be a nice guy.Ryan leads the league in both yards passing (2,636) and touchdowns (19). The Falcons, though, have lost three straight to the Bucs, including 31-24 in the season opener, and are hoping to tighten the division standings Thursday night.Former Atlanta coach Mike Smith, now Tampa Bays defensive coordinator, said the Falcons are not the same team the Bucs faced in Week 1.With Ryan and receiver Julio Jones leading the way, Atlanta leads the NFL in scoring and total offense. And, the defense has progressed since Jameis Winston had one of his best games of the season against the Falcons in the opener.I dont think theyre a lot different, scheme-wise, coach Dirk Koetter said. I think theyre playing with more confidence, and you would expect that. Theyve won some big games.Some things to know about the Falcons and Buccaneers:DEFENSELESS: The Buccaneers arent making excuses about allowing a franchise-worst 626 yards, including a club record 513 passing, during last weeks 30-24 overtime loss to Oakland. The team defines long plays as runs of 10-plus yards, as well as receptions of 20-plus yards. The Raiders had 12 for 374 yards, including Seth Roberts 41-yard scoring reception in OT.Totally unacceptable, Smith said.McCoy expects the unit to rebound against Atlanta.OK, lets say that they did all that and we won. Would we care? I think we care more about the fact that we lost, McCoy said. The yards, it is what it is. Ive seen teams throw for a whole bunch of yards and lose the game. We lost the game, thats what matters. Well fix that. ... We need to get a win.STOPPING THE RUN: Atlantas defense hasnt allowed an opposing player to rush for 100 yards in 13 consecutive games. With ex-Falcon Jacquizz Rodgers sidelined by a left foot injury, Tampa Bay will line up with its fourth different starting running back -- possibly Antone Smith or rookie Peyton Barber.Koetter said whoever plays, hes confident the Bucs can move the ball on the ground.If a guys here, the coach said, hes good enough.UNDER THE LIGHTS: The biggest drawback to playing twice in five days is the physical toll it takes on players. The Falcons and Bucs , however, welcome the opportunity to showcase their division rivalry to the rest of the nation.This is our chance again to play against another great team and kind of make a statement, Winston said. Just not really a statement, just to prove to ourselves that we are a good football team.Atlanta coach Dan Quinn doesnt mind the short preparation time.There is a little bit of pre-planning that goes into it, but I do like it. Id like it better if it was always a home game, but honestly I do like it, playing night games and having them as division games, Quinn said. Honestly, its a lot of fun.HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE?: Not at Raymond James Stadium. The Bucs have one of the worst home records (3-16) in the NFL over the past three seasons. They are 0-3 at home this season, compared to 3-1 on the road. The Falcons are 3-1 on the road, the lone setback a two-point loss at Seattle on Oct. 16.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL Nike Vapormax Tukku . Parker had 26 points and eight assists and San Antonio beat Toronto 112-99 Monday night. "We won that game because of Tony Parkers aggressiveness," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "His juice; his aggression all night long. Nike Vapormax Halvalla . After taking two big hits this week -- losing at home and dropping back-to-back games for the first time all season -- Indiana struck back by playing its most complete game of the year. http://www.vapormaxsuomi.com/vapormax-plus-ale.html . 10 Texas Rangers jersey for one last time. Young formally announced his retirement Friday after returning to Rangers Ballpark, his baseball home for all but the last of his 13 major league seasons. Nike Vapormax Miehet . The defence is doing its part, too. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. Vapormax Ale .Y. - New York City has been selected to host the NBA All-Star weekend in 2015, with the game played at Madison Square Garden and the slam dunk contest and other skills events held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. An inspired Ruan Pienaar led Ulster to a 35-22 Guinness PRO12 victory over Cardiff Blues at the Arms Park.The former South Africa scrum-half made a major contribution to three of his sides five tries from Stuart McCloskey, Chris Henry, Charles Piutau, Darren Cave and Kyle McCall and converted all five of them himself.The Blues miserable run of form continued with a fourth loss in five games at the Arms Park with their tries coming from Kristian Dacey, Alex Cuthert and Willis Halaholo. Steve Shingler kicked a penalty and Nicky Robinson added two conversions.Sam Warburton was a late withdrawal with a sickness bug but Blues overcame this setback to take a fourth-minute lead through Shinglers early penalty. Cardiff continued to dominate the opening quarter with centres Halaholo and Ray Lee-Lo a constant threat to the Ulster defence but the home side failed to take advantage on the scoreboard.Poor handling and a lack of ball retention was a feature of a stop-start first 20 minutes as both sides struggled to bring any continuity to their play.However after their slow start, Ulster rapidly improved and Pienaar brought the game to life with a clean break from a scrum on the home 22. Cardiff were then penalised with Blaine Scully yellow-carded before Piutau capitalised by scoring the opening try after 24 minutes.Four minutes later, McCloskey drifted past some weak defence from Blues to score Ulsters second and with Pienaar converting both, the visitors held a healthy 114-3 lead.ddddddddddddScully returned from the sin-bin but Pienaar continued to have a major influence on the game and when the scrum-half charged down a clearance from Lloyd Williams, McCall was on hand to cross.Pienaars conversion put Ulster almost out of sight but Dacey gave the hosts renewed hope by scoring from close range although the Blues still trailed 21-8 at the interval.Two minutes after the restart, Ulster suffered a blow when Iain Henderson was yellow-carded for a high tackle on Cuthbert but despite some sustained pressure Blues failed to add to their score in the flankers absence.Cardiff brought on Matthew Morgan in place of Tom James and replaced both props in the hope of reversing their fortunes but it did not pay immediate dividends as the third quarter remained scoreless. Ulster lost another player to the sin-bin when Luke Marshall was penalised for a deliberate offside but despite the excellent efforts of Dacey and Halaholo, the hosts continued to play poorly and squandered chances.Robinson came on for Blues after a seven-year absence from the region but there was to be no happy return as Henry finished off a flowing Ulster move to score their bonus-point try.Halaholo and Cuthbert scored late tries for Blues but it mattered little as a Robinson kick was charged down by Cave to seal victory for the Irish province. ' ' '