career-high three touchdowns and Southeastern Louisiana s

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Deciding to go for a game-winning two-point conversion in the final minute might not have been the boldest move Raiders coach Jack Del Rio made in Sundays season-opening win over the New Orleans Saints.Benching $38 million cornerback Sean Smith midway through the third quarter and sitting him for the remainder of the afternoon clearly stood out and raised eyebrows in Oaklands locker room as well as around the NFL.Smith was one of the marquee offseason additions made by general manager Reggie McKenzie yet Del Rio didnt hesitate to pull Smith after he failed to get a hand on Saints wideout Brandin Cooks and was beaten for a 98-yard touchdown.Its a move Smith agreed with, even if it came at his expense, and he said he was not surprised when it happened.Not at all, Smith said Tuesday. I was getting killed, Im not going to lie to you. It was getting bad out there. I was costing our team points. Coach did what he had to do. Obviously I would have loved to stay in and fight that thing out but coach made a decision on whats best for the team so Im going to ride with it.The Raiders expected Smith to bring stability to their secondary after nearly a half-decade of constant changes. They inked him to a four-year contract that included a $20 million signing bonus to lure Smith away from Kansas City.Smith got off to a decent enough start in New Orleans but struggled as the game went on, allowing a 49-yard completion before the Saints franchise-record 98-yarder from quarterback Drew Brees to Cooks.Thats when Del Rio made the decision to bench Smith in favor of former first-round draft pick DJ Hayden. Hayden was flagged for two pass interference penalties that helped sustain touchdown drives by the Saints after Smith was pulled from the game.I have to make those kinds of calls and guys have to trust my judgement, Del Rio said. Im going to always do what I think is best for the football team and thats what it was.Smith, who had 41 pass breakups and five interceptions during his three years in Kansas City, had no qualms with the decision.Just a bad day overall, bad technique, Smith said. Thats pretty much what it was, bad technique. You want to go out there with a game plan and execute and thats something that I didnt do.An eight-year veteran, Smith said he had never been benched in the middle of a game before Sunday.But if you play long enough youre going to have days like that, Smith said. You just have to move on, have a short-term memory and be ready to roll. Its over. Its just like any other job. I had a bad day at work. Its one game. Its not going to define myself, my career or this season. It was a bad day and Im ready to roll into Week 2.---Online: AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL Cheap Nike Air Max 90 Premium .C. -- Al Jefferson joked that he feels he can score from anywhere on the court. Air Max 90 Sale Cheap . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. http://www.wholesale90airmax.com/ . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Fog prevented downhill racers from getting their Olympic dress rehearsal. Nike Air Max 90 Leather Sale . Still, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke thought taking him out before the fifth inning was an unusual move. "Im looking up at the board and hes got two hits given up and one run, and Im taking him out after the fourth inning," Roenicke said. Air Max 90 Essential Sale . Sulaiman, 44, was chosen unanimously Tuesday in a vote by the leadership, the World Boxing Council said. Sulaiman becomes the sixth president of the organization. THIBODAUX, La. -- Julius Maracalin ran for a career-high three touchdowns and Southeastern Louisiana survived a frantic finish to beat Nicholls 44-42 on Thursday night.Nicholls scored on a 5-yard pass from Chase Fourcade to Damion Jeanpiere with 1:18 left, added the two-point conversion, recovered an onside kick and scored again on Fourcades 2-yard run. That two-point try failed but Nicholls again recovered an onside kick and a penalty on Southeastern Louisiana on the play left the Colonels with the ball on the Lions 37 with two seconds remaining. Fourcade scrambled and threw it into the end zone where the Hail MMary pass was batted and fell incomplete.ddddddddddddThe victory in the regular-season finale for both teams ensured a third-place finish for the Lions (7-4, 7-2) and enhanced their hopes for a berth in the FCS playoffs for the third time in four seasons.The game seesawed with the Lions leading 14-0 after the first quarter, the Colonels up 21-14 at halftime and then the Lions scoring 13 points in the third to retake the lead before the teams combined for 38 points in the final quarter. ' ' '