 It's Friday night Atlanta time to rise up tonight with Kelly Price and Harry Douglas presented by AT&T Can you feel it Atlanta? We are still alive. It is that still alive mentality I'm Kelly Price joined as always by former Falcons wide receiver Harry Douglas as of just today December 17th the Falcons are still in this thing Kelly How time moves and how time moves fastly the last three years the Falcons haven't been in this situation In a very very long time So what a time to be alive in a precious time at that absolutely big part of that is what this Falcons defense did this past weekend Michael Walker said they took that last game against Carolina personally and man Did they extract some revenge in Charlotte on Sunday thinking back over the last couple weeks? The Falcons have allowed more than 21 points just once since the Dallas game to that prolific Buccaneers offense this defense now has back-to-back games with pick sixes They've notch interceptions in four straight games and after forcing eight turnovers in the first ten games of the season They now have seven in their last four Harry and Kelly. I think you look at the Carolina game, right? They got three turnovers. So that's three extra possessions You've got your offense and this off this defense has been thriving on that of late You love to see it but I got I'm gonna continue to give credit to Dean P's now We see why he was so good with the Patriots the Ravens the Tennessee Titans And he has brought that greatness right here in Atlanta and these players love him. They love his scheme They're finally they're finally getting acclimated to it And you see the fruits of the labor being out there on Sundays every weekend Absolutely definitely getting more comfortable and when the defense is forcing turnovers flipping short fields getting stops The offense's job is much easier as well, right? I think we're starting to see this kind of football that Arthur Smith has been wanting to get out of this team But that's especially true on offense as the Falcons are getting more and more balanced on that side of the ball Balance is key. You don't want to be one-dimensional. It's good to get Hayden Hearst back I gotta give credit to Russell Gage. He's been stepping up a lot in that number one wide receiver role But I must give credit to Jake Matthews and Jalen Mayfield that left side of that offensive line Those guys have been opening up holes for for Mike Davis and Cordell Patterson to be able to run through and that's one of The reasons why this run game has been so good up late as well Yeah One Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot came in here this offseason They refused to call this a rebuild many shook their heads at that thought but look at where this team is now Despite a roster that some might have dismissed as a rebuilding team The Falcons are growing and competing when it when it matters most down the stretch here And I think it's pretty manageable if you look at this final stretch just got to keep progressing right now And everybody outside of the organization said that it was a rebuild Everybody except two people Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot They knew what this team could be and do they have the greatest of athletes and players on their roster right now as Another team know they don't but they're making the best and getting the best out of their players They continue they want these guys who continue to progress week in a week out And if they continue to do that Kelly, they're gonna be in a position to have a playoff spot it Absolutely, and let's take a look at the NFC playoff picture as it stands heading into week 15 on Sunday Obviously the Falcons traveled to San Francisco this weekend that has huge playoff implications in the NFC with the seven and six Niners currently holding a wall card spot if the Falcons win this weekend They'd have a huge tiebreaker over them if they lose well Atlanta Wouldn't be mathematically eliminated per se, but it pretty much be over with all these other Six and seven squads on the outside looking it so you're telling me there's a chance Harry There's always a chance There is hope and I love the simple fact that you have five teams that are six and seven right now to San Francisco 49 It's their seven and six if you beat them now you move a step closer, and that's what you want to do in December There's meaningful meaningful games on the West Coast out in the Bay against San Francisco I love to see it Kelly you love to see it Well this week the Falcons talked about adopting that playoff mentality the rest of the season and they're certainly not leaving anything out There on the fashion front. Let's take out take a look at some of the Falcons fits from Sunday First up the punter Thomas Morsted with the throwback windbreaker. I love this look Matching it with some red and black jays. I know you love that look at the drip Look at the drip. See this man just came on the team not too long ago, and he understood the assignment Yes, I'm it was to look good for game day Thomas Thomas. I like it man. That's a great. Well. I like it Thomas next up Kendall Sheffield cleaning up nice I love the windowpane brown suits simple business look with some black Ties and dress shoes there. He's even got a little fancy little boot near going on on the top there Harry Hey Kendall Sheffield on line one. I need a lawyer my man. You're looking sharp. I need a lawyer Sheffield Kendall Sheffield on line one. I need a lawyer. He looks the part next up a simple and casual look from Kyle Pitts It may be freezing outside, but he's got a tropical state of mind with some Pineapple kind of pullover pattern there his missing his favorite accessory Which is the sunglasses. We know he's come to love on rise up tonight. That boy must be hungry He like fruit. I guess he the unicorn for a reason when you're the unicorn you can wear pineapples You can wear grapes. You can wear watermelons anything you want to wear your shirt or your clothes you can wear go ahead unicorn Last but certainly not least the king of falcons fits greaty Jared Rocking a sharp tan suit with those spiky white sneakers with the red bombs that I know you have and we both love Just another day in the office for greaty with this cream clean look right here boy He got the umbrella. Okay keen greaty Oh Listen, he's one person that we can count on every every week to be dapper dress sharp give us a show falcons fit We make this show for people like greaty. Thank you greaty for giving us content reliable on and off the field We love it Well Christmas time is one of my favorite times of the year because I just love shopping picking out gifts and buying gifts for people But it's also about getting gifts right this week. We asked the Falcons. What's the best Christmas gift you ever got? The best Christmas gift I ever got was the week because I had a lot of siblings and that we was like anything You had to settle everything get on the week Probably I got the game cue back on it was like a thing and I was probably the best Christmas if I got yeah seven years old My mom bought me and my brother a scooter It literally lasted 30 minutes That bad First time he got it he's riding went down a hill I think all of our ankles have been destroyed at some point by one of those razor scooters Those were really hard back in the day. My favorite Christmas gift I ever got was my puppy when I was a little kid. His name was bubba. He was a you know yellow lab He was great. I would love another puppy, you know if my husband's watching out there, you know another puppy would be great The pressure's on Mike What about you? What's your best Christmas? I'll say for me last year my wife got me a mac book Also, she got me a lot of studio lights and stuff that's in my office So she understood that I love to work and I work hard So she got me a lot of things to make my work that much easier and better So I love that to you, baby Thoughtful gift for someone who likes to work and you got to get those things that that helped that work Well, we've got a great show remaining here on rise up tonight Including a great conversation about improving the city of Atlanta with the crew behind Atlanta influences everything Don't miss that later in the show. Plus. I break down Russell Gage and his route running. That's next in my film room or rise up tonight We got you covered with more Falcons news and nuggets including a trip over to Harry's film room rise up tonight. I'll be right back ATL this is a crack Let's rejoin my favorite co-host Kelly and Harry for more rise up tonight or your home for Falcons football Fox 5 Atlanta Welcome back to rise up tonight for this week's edition of Harry's film room Now recently I've been really impressed with wide receiver Russell Gage and the way he stepped up for his team offensively But the Falcons number one wide receiver cover really taking time away for mental health reasons There was a big void that needed to be filled. Well, Russell Gage has filled that void Let's take a look at his route running versus the count out of panthers last week Right here the Falcons offense. They have second in 11 right now on the 24-yard line You see Russell Gage right here. He's one on one with this corner Now the route he's going to run is a slant and go right? We call it a sluggo So he's going to go here. He's going to come here and then he's going to take this route deep But as we let this play play I'm going to show you all some key details and why it worked As we stop it right here the first step in running this route is to make this corner believe that you're running a slant This is a great job by Russell Gage with his head looking at matt ryan to show that he's running a slant It was also a great job by matt ryan giving the shoulder fake to make the defender think he's throwing the slant So as we let it play out Boom got got him the bike But as we stop it right here the second part of this slant and go is that the ball is not coming to you right now Right, so there's no reason to look for it. Russell Gage puts his head down and he's running As we let it finish playing As he's dig dig dig now he looks in the sky for the christmas present Heck of a catch by Russell Gage. Now. I want you all to see something from the back end of this as well You're going to see matt ryan watch matt ryan give this shoulder fake. Boom. That makes the defender bite right there Russell Gage Boom sell it with his head go back out dig dig head down look in the sky balls right there Kelly back to you. Those are the details we need Good stuff harry. Thanks. Well, if you've been watching our show long enough You know, we're just as quick as anyone to point out that the falcons are work in progress And if you've been watching the falcons each sunday, you know that progress is happening each week as this team gets to where it Wants to be falcons insider tory macklehani breaks down how to keep building on that success in her keys to the game this week Falcons have yet to play a complete game. They've had moments. They've had halves They've had quarters, but they really haven't put it all together But arthas says it's not as elusive of a concept as you may think when it comes to sunday's game against the 49ers The falcons have to play as complete a game as they have up to this point That means all three phases of the game offense defense special teams firing on all cylinders And this isn't some fantastical idea. And yes, that's the word the arthur smith used It's something the falcons feel is in reach. They're playing smarter football these days They're running the ball better having surpassed the 100 rushing yard mark three games in a row They're much better on third down too All of these things are steps in the right direction, but the question now lies in consistency I feel the need to say there's a difference between the word perfection and completion The falcons don't have to play a perfect game But they do need to play a complete one this sunday against the 49ers for rise up tonight. I'm tory macklehani I like that completion versus perfection still to come on rise up tonight Some local students got their smile on at a free dental clinic at mercedes-ben stadium this week More on that coming up later in the show And coming up next we're going to nest with the brains behind atlanta influences everything. Don't miss that. That's next on rise up tonight Rise up tonight is presented by at&t and brought to you by george a lottery today could be the day By home deeper how doers get more done by mercedes-benz the best of nothing and by truers committed to a better future Welcome back to rise up tonight and it's time to hop into the nest with kelly harry and tonight's influencer brought to you by mercedes-benz We've got with us in the nest today the group behind the creative agency atlanta influences everything What kind of went into creating this brand for you guys? And why was it important for you guys to do so? We felt like atlanta lacked a consistent voice um if you go to other cities like new york or la like there's so much pride In being from those cities and we just we all knew that atlanta was such an amazing city full of just creatives and just Dope business and you know just a lot of just dope things going on. We just felt like atlanta should have more pride and We and then you know, we all realize that atlanta does influence everything Why not just say it and let the world know so we put it out there so I like that so Two of you guys can answer this question. Why do y'all think atlanta actually does influence is everything with me It starts with so to give you the blunt answer. I believe that Black people dictate cool and trends And with atlanta being such a black mecca We dictate a lot of cool stuff and cool and cool culture Infiltrates every aspect of american culture which infiltrates world culture So if we're dictating the cool and dictating the trends Then ultimately we're dictating what goes on in america and we get and we're dictating What goes on in the world tangible example With football, I guess would be 2015 season. I think When cam newton, who's not of the falcons, but he's of atlanta When he was doing the dab everybody everybody's dabbing and You know as you got the backstory You know the migos kind of came up with that But how did the dab end up? In football and cam's hands and just from my understanding a quick story was earlier that year The carolina panthers had one of the earliest bygames. I mean by weeks in that season Cam came home His brother was playing quarterback at grady high school at the time cam went to a game The brother Scored started doing the dab and go out to eat as a family later cam asked his brother Hey, what's that? Brothers like yo, that's what everybody's doing. You know when we score we do this and in the next week They're back playing he does it and it goes And they're a myriad of examples like that But that's one that I want to throw in with the football world and we all remember that year And it just made it beyond football obviously. So yeah, that's that's one example And that kind of leads into something I wanted to ask about how do the falcons and kind of sports and culture really intersect in atlanta? I know the falcons share the dome with a football team and and I have to remind people that the pig skin and the success of the pig skin in this market Layed the groundwork for the other pronunciation of football to come here and it's the fan base It is it is the south it is what Is what we do. We know football. We know friday night lights and The fan base more specifically in my mind the saints and falcons game um If if the nfl talks about, you know, dallas vs. kansas city or some of these old school robberies There's a robbery in the terms of the saints and falcons game that has so much culture and Family tied into the game that I think that's something very unique To our team and to our region that should be told more and I know there's like we're enemies, but there's like The cousin that you love to hate and I think that's something very unique about our particular brand of football Um, you know that that you won't find in other markets So so what are some initiatives you guys are doing in the community to really connect? Uh, the silvic and creative scenes in the lander. We did what was called a community give back Every day every what was that thursday? It was every thursday We would go into underserved communities and provide them with fresh produce We partnered with a friend of ours named Howard Kepter rest in peace. He just passed away of kovat Maybe two months ago, but from may to may every week We were out with pilots of food and a truck sponsored by another Atlanta team Atlanta Braves They are partnered with us and provided us with a truck and space to store food. That's really good stuff Thank you guys for joining us in the nest. This is some really important information And I think it's important that everyone watches the full interview Which we'll have on fox5atlanta.com. So make sure to check that out and we'll be right back on rise up tonight Hey, Atlanta, this is a crack talking and you watching rise up tonight presented by AT&T Hey crack here rise up tonight has been presented to you by AT&T Mercedes-Benz stadium is typically home to thousands of eager dirty bird fans cheering on their hometown falcons This week though the stadium looked a little different Here's why as we rise up for Atlanta brought to you by truest Gone were the football players and coaches in their place dentists and patients The alana falcons and team smile partnered tuesday to host a free oral health care program for the underprivileged Children giving kids a true dental experience in an nfl stadium Children received teeth cleaning x-rays and more amongst the concessions of Mercedes-Benz stadium Team smile wanted to ease that tension of visiting a dentist Surrounding them with a game day like experience with cheerleaders mascot and even a dj The organization hopes these experiences will help children ditch the not so fun notions that sometimes come with visiting the doctor We use sports as a tool to make things cool to make things exciting But really what we're doing is we're taking the fear out of dentistry. We're making it fun We're serving children that really come from nothing And so we're trying to provide this experience so that they're not scared of the dentist any longer It's a huge game this weekend with plough implications for the falcons. They head to san francisco harry Arthur smith said sunday's went against the panthers was the kind of physical game He really wants to see from his team moving forward and now this week. They meet a very physical Niners team. What are you going to be watching there sunday afternoon? Well, that feels a callity And it has to be done on the falcons offensive line their defensive line Basically, they're a whole team both sides of the ball and even on special teams George kiddo a guy for the san francisco 49ers in 2019 He had over 130 yards the last two games this year that he's played in over 330 yards So they have to figure out a way to stop him debo samuels another guy They use him in a run game a lot. He can do it in the past game as well But winning the line of scrimmage for this falcons offensive line and this defensive line is going to be very very Imperative in this matchup to see who's going to move up another notch in the playoff race Debo samuels very similar to the cordial Patterson for them for falcons fans who need a reference Well, thank you guys for staying up late with us here on rise up tonight for harry douglas. I'm kelly price We'll see you back here next friday night