Falcons have not solved how to get Smith more touches

Smith took a simple pass to the flat for a 74-yard touchdown run in the loss to the New York Giants on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

He had just one carry for 2 yards and caught three passes for 83 yards against the Giants. The former special teams maven has been ripping off big plays since cracking the lineup last season.

For a team looking for points, it would seem that he’s earned a bigger role in the offense.

“That’s up to the coaches,” Ryan said. “They put those guys in. I’ve said it all along, (offensive coordinator) Dirk (Koetter) does a great job of scheming to get all of our guys involved. Antone made a huge play for us today at a critical time. I thought it was going to give us some momentum going into that fourth quarter.”

Smith had a 48-yard touchdown run against Minnesota. He had a 38-yard touchdown run against Tampa Bay. He had a similar 54-yard touchdown catch against New Orleans.

In 2014, Smith has posted 121 yards on 11 carries (11.0 yards per carry) while adding 156 yards on six receptions this season. He is averaging 16.3 yards per touch.

“We need to have more plays designed for Antone,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “Antone, when he touches the ball, he makes plays.”

Smith’s touchdown was the lone bright spot for the offense in the second half.

“He did another fine job,” Smith said. “We caught them in cover zero and that was a great throw by Matt getting the ball out of his hands. When you are in zero, there is no defensive depth and he just out-ran everybody. I know everybody likes Antone and we like Antone a lot as well.”

So, why doesn’t he get the ball more?

“We’ve got to make sure that we get our play-makers the ball and we will continue to do that,” Smith said.

Revamped line: The offensive line, playing with three new starters, turned in a respectable effort.

Harland Gunn started at left guard for Justin Blalock (back). Peter Konz took over a center for Joe Hawley’s who’s out for the season with a knee injury and Gabe Carimi moved out to right tackle for Lamar Holmes, who’s out for the season with a foot injury.

The line gave up just one sack, but Ryan was hit eight times and hurried on several other passes. Blalock traveled with the team and could be ready to return.

“I thought that they did a very good job,” Mike Smith said.

The offense stalled in the second half, scoring just one on seven possessions.

“I thought that especially there in the first half that they did a very good job,” Smith said. “I think there was more pressure in the second half and that led to some of inefficiencies on third downs. Those guys did a great job. The coaching staff, the players did a great job in preparing themselves for the situation that we had today.”

Southward flashes: Falcons rookie safety Dezmen Southward, a third-round pick from Wisconsin, saw his most extensive action of the season.

He played in the team’s 4-2-5 big nickel package, which featured three safeties. He finished with three tackles.

“I felt good to get out there,” Southward said. “I felt like I made a couple of plays. I was pretty solid when I was out there, but at the same time playing this game is about winning and we didn’t get that done.”

On third-and-11 from New York’s 16 with 13:07 left in the second quarter, Southward came up and put a big hit on New York wide receiver Preston Parker short of the first down marker.

“(Giants quarterback Eli Manning) threw a quick pass and they got it blocked up,” Southward said. “I was just trying to come downhill and do what safeties do. We hit. We come up and make tackles. I was a great feeling making that play.”

With William Moore out on short-time injured reserved, Kemal Ishmael started at strong safety.

No pass rush: The Falcons registered one sack and one quarterback hit on Manning, who dropped back to pass 30 times.

“We had some times where we got Manning off his spot, but again we’ve got to put pressure on the quarterback,” Smith said.