 It's Friday night in the A. You know what that means. Kelly Price and Troy McElhady coming at you on Rise Up Tonight. Presented by AT&T. I know it's Halloween and that's just around the corner and it's spooky season. But man, the Falcon just really ran into a buzz saw this week. Injuries are no excuse. And Joe Burrow very well may be him, but that was a tough one. Yeah, it's really hard to look at this game and not feel like you just wanna wash it and move on to the next one. There is some things, there are some things to learn from it, but at the end of the day, it is tough to go back to. You're lucky it only counts as one, as Arthur Smith said, after the game. But the defending NFC champions looked exactly like that in this one. Let's huddle up about it. Let's huddle up with Kelly and Sorry on the World of Falcons Football. It was the third game this season that Atlanta fell behind by 21 or more points. Burrow completed 19 of his first 21 passes for 325 yards before the first half even ended. But worse than the slow start, I think was the fact that the Falcons didn't have a moment that they rallied from. Like we've seen in some of these other games in which they've mounted comebacks. Why do you think that is? I'm actually really glad that you brought this up because I thought that moment was coming at the start of the third quarter actually. If you, the Falcons put together a very long productive drive coming out of halftime, it feels like a different game. That half, what happened instead is that they go three and out. Worse, the defense gets a stop right after giving the ball right back to the offense. But then the offense again goes three and out. If there was a moment I think had the potential of what you're referring to, it was this moment specifically. Yeah, you gotta capitalize on those moments. And when you get behind by that much, that early, you gotta be able to turn to the passing game to dig you out as well. Falcons just said, no, we're not doing that. I'll just say it. You're not gonna win a lot of games in the NFL, especially a shootout with Joe Burrow with 13 pass attempts from the outside looking in. It feels like the fear or inability or lack of confidence in airing it out is kind of holding this offense back. What are the Falcons saying about this from the inside, Tori? Yeah, so Arthur Smith was point blank asked if he trusts Marcus Mariota. And he said without hesitation that yes, yes he does. And what I will say is that it's not like the Falcons were refusing to pass it all late against the Bengals. That's a fallacy. If you look at the 18 total plays they had as an offense in the second half, 13 of those plays looked to be originally designed as pass plays. It's not about the Falcons not going to the pass. It's about the lack of production and execution when they do go to it. And that's what they really have to figure out going forward. So the Bengals had four receivers with at least 25 yards after catch. The 481 passing yards allowed are the most this season by the Falcons allowed. And by the way, we're very close to the franchise high passing yards given up in 2004 which was 4.99. Injuries are a factor here for sure. But how can Atlanta tighten up its coverage going forward with the guys that they've got? Yeah, this is something that defensive players have talked a lot about. They talked about tightening up the zones and tackling better. But I really liked what Dean P said on Thursday which was that yes, they need to tackle better and they gave up too many explosives. They were pretty good at both prior to the Cincinnati game. So it's all about the yards after catch explosives and not getting beat deep. Well, we've talked a lot about Joe Burrow and he certainly had some viral pregame outfits but the Falcons made some solid fashion choices of their own in Paycore Stadium tunnels this week. We're walking in presented by Wells Fargo. Let's start with Alameda Zekia serving a vest moment serving some ozzy ice up top serving some really nice sneakers that I don't know what the designer is but I really like them. So I would like to go on the record that I saw this picture and immediately told Kelly that we need to have ozzy on this week. I just love a puffy vest. I may or may not, I'll say this, I may or may not have just bought myself one because of this look. I love it. Well, this is officially a segment sponsored by Vests and dope jackets because here's Abdullah Anderson bringing us some fall vibes with the flannel jacket. I love it. This look to me, I think you're exactly right, just screams fall. I mean, you have the color and the flannel, tizz fall. I love it. I love it. Great choice. Another fun jacket, Avery Williams rocking a street artsy kind of pattern on his puffer jacket. It kind of reminds me of our friend Greg Mike's style but the chef's kiss moment of this fit for me is the duffel bag that kind of matches with a similar cartoony art print. I love how we really let those pieces shine with the all black. This is such a difficult jacket to style because it is so loud and so fun and so crazy but I agree that Avery did a good job of letting the jacket speak for itself and I'll say this, this may be a hot take but this is one of my favorite looks of the season. I love it. We can always count on our boy, Young Wei Ku for an impeccable suit as well. He ate and left no crumbs here. He may have worn this gray number before but it's a classic. You can't go wrong with it, right? Like you said, a classic. It's clean and it's classy and that goes a long way here. Reliable just like Mr. Ku himself. All right, we have to hit you with a little bonus here. The head coach himself having a moment in this red blazer looking sharp, Arthur Smith. Applause, applause, applause. Standing ovation for the man in charge himself making his falcons fits debut. I mean, we did say that this was the week of fun jackets and the subtle red is quite fun. I love it. It's a great look. Hard to believe that Halloween is just a few days away. Take this as your reminder to grab some fun sized candy bars at the store for those trick or treaters on Monday. That being said, we asked the Falcons what their favorite Halloween candies are in our question of the week. Reese's. Reese's. Reese's. Classic or pieces? Not pieces. Regular. Two cups. We're too regular to Reese's cup. I used to like the little candy corn but now that I got older I really don't like it too much. But definitely it was candy corn. Reese's for sure. Still to this day. I ain't never get to have a full sized boy but I have my little cooks. I'm a little egg but I was pushing to get some food so I laid it on. Candy corn. Candy corn. Oh, that's controversial. A lot of people don't like candy corn. No, I got it. I like that candy corn. You like candy corn. Maybe like sour corn straws. Show them the little mini pecs. Something I was talking about. Dots. Dots. Still my favorite candy, you know. So definitely, you know my brother whenever he had the small pack of dots. At the bottom of the bag I'd always ask the trade for one or something. All right, we'll get to that in a second. Richie Grant brings up a very interesting point. Which Reese's are the best? You mentioned the eggs. I agree. The Christmas trees, the pumpkins, all the shaped Reese's are goaded. What's your favorite candy? So there are categories to this, right? Of course. So for sweet candies, it's peanut M&M's classic. Yes. For sour candies, I have three words for you. Sour gummy worms. Both solid choices. I also would have loved to be Avery Williams' brother that he's trading these dots with. I mean, no one wants the dots but Avery Williams apparently did. I am so confused by the dots and the candy corn takes of this team. I don't like either and I'm very surprised because I feel like not a lot of people do. No, and I think Rashawn Evans was surprised that I said, hey, that's a controversial take. He was like, no, I love candy corn. Good for you, man. Good for you. You love what you love, I guess. All right, well this Sunday the Falcons will induct a 12th man into their ring of honor. Longtime Falcons Center Todd McClure told us he's excited and maybe a little nervous for the honor. We'll talk with him later in the show. Plus the Falcons rookies make their annual Halloween trip to Children's Hospital of Atlanta in costume. That story is coming up next on Rise Up Tonight. Rise Up Tonight is presented by AT&T and brought to you by Georgia Lottery. Today could be the day. By Home Depot, how doers get more done? By Mercedes Benz, the best of nothing and by Truis, committed to a better future. It's the Halloween holiday season and that calls for some time-tested traditions and the Falcons rookies continued a heartwarming team tradition this week as we Rise Up for Atlanta brought to you by Truist. Every Halloween, the Falcons rookies dress up in Halloween costumes and spend play time with patients at Children's Hospital of Atlanta. They continued this tradition even virtually through COVID and we're back to doing it face to face this week. The costumes they wear always crack me up. I mean, the Cheetos and Justin Schaefer there, that's a fantastic costume. Come on, they say it was a great way to spend their off day. It makes me feel good. Honestly, I'm a people person myself so just getting to hang out with people and hang out with kids, making their day better. You know, it brings me some sense of joy to know that I'm making someone else's day better. It's great, you know, it's a great boost. It's for these kids and you walk the halls and you see what they're going through and it puts in perspective everything that you're going through and if you can take that, take that away, that pain away for one day for them then it's definitely worth it and it's something that I want to do more of and I think that will continue to do as a team. So I know if you guys saw the flash, him running by, that's Josh Ali and apparently he stayed in costume the whole time, was super serious about being the flash and obviously running around. I love all of their costumes. They look great, I'm really proud of them for all the effort that they went into doing that. That's really great. There was a hot dog, there was Cheetos, there was everything. Sweet stuff there and you know what else is pretty sweet. The next couple of games for the Falcons are extremely winnable. You got the Panthers twice, the Chargers, the Bears, the Commanders and don't forget that these three and four Falcons are still tied for first place in the NFC South. Arthur Smith said this week, that's a good reminder to just not give up basically and they're going to be getting into their game for preparation here a little bit more jacked up, right? Yeah, no, you're exactly right and it's something that Arthur Smith actually was very honest about on Monday. He said, he was like, I was actually a little annoyed and I will say that's his words, not mine by the focus that he felt this team lack after the 49ers win. I expect that to be very different this week as the Falcons move forward because you can almost use this Bengals loss as a wake up call. And with this part of the schedule coming up, there are some on paper winnable games for the Falcons and they could use a few decisive wins. Yeah, I think that would do worlds for the morale of this team. That being said, we've got some thoughts on it. Our hot takes are still to come coming up and the mud duck himself, Todd McClure joins us in the nest coming up next on Rise Up Tonight. Rise Up Tonight is presented by AT&T and brought to you by Georgia Lottery. Today could be the day. By Home Depot, how doers get more done? By Mercedes Benz, the best of nothing and by Truis, committed to a better future. Welcome back to Rise Up Tonight. Let's head in the nest with Kelly Tory and this week's special guest brought to you by Mercedes Benz. We're so excited to have Todd McClure join us in the nest today. You are becoming the 12th member of the Falcons Ring of Honor this weekend during halftime. Are you nervous? Are you excited? What's kind of the vibe or the feelings that you're having ahead of this big moment for you? A little bit of everything, nerves. I'm excited, excited to see a lot of my ex-teammates. You know, and it's a big moment. I'm nervous, I've been watching Roddy White's speech and everything he talked about and kind of jotting some things down. It's a big moment. And to be able to have my teammates, you know, the Falcons organization and my family there, it's gonna be an awesome day. Now, I remember when you were brought in over the summer and they told you about this honor. That was one of my favorite moments of this off season. For you, what was that day like when they told you the news and having some of those guys around you to share that with you? It was really neat because having Justin Blalock and Tyson Clay both, two of my favorite teammates ever, guys that I spent a lot of time with, for them to be there, to share the news with me, it was emotional. We had a lot of great memories, a lot of bad memories together, but we went through it together and I have those guys there, it meant a lot to me. We had you on this show back when Harry Douglas was my co-host, which obviously that was a lot of fun to discuss some of your kind of memories with him. We talked about the name Mudduck and kind of where that came from, but for any new viewers and for Tori, can you share with us again the story of how Mudduck came to be? Yeah, absolutely. So Coach Al Miller was our strength coach. He was under Coach Dan Reeves' staff. He gave everybody a nickname. Tyson Claybow was Big Bear. Mudduck was my name. I don't know where he got it from. I got a little bit of a waddle when I walked, so maybe that's what it came from, but it stuck and I have people today that don't call me by my first name, they call me by Mudduck. That's fantastic. Oh, I love it. Now, we are a Falcon show and we have to talk about the 2022 Falcons. I mean, for you, when you're watching kind of the transformation that this offensive line has had from last year to this year, I mean, what are just your overall thoughts of what that group has been able to do in 2022? Those guys have been awesome. This has definitely been fun to watch and I think going into the season, there are a lot of people skeptical of this team in general, you know, didn't know what type of season we would have and that we might be rebuilding and I think they've come out and, you know, they shocked me and I think they've shocked a lot of Falcons fans the way they responded and for Cordell Patterson to go out, you know, I know that was a big blow for us because he was a big part of that offense, but those guys are, everybody's stepping up, you know, they came up a little short this past weekend, but I like the way this team's headed. That being said with Arthur Smith as the head coach, very, you know, run heavy, run first kind of guy, former offensive lineman himself, what's kind of your thoughts on maybe Arthur Smith and maybe interactions you had with him when you were in town for training camp or just kind of overall thoughts on what he's been doing? Yeah, absolutely. You said it, you know, he's my type of guy, has an offensive line background and loves to run the football and I think anytime you can establish a run in the National Football League, it helps out often, it helps your whole team out. Love coach Smith only had an opportunity to talk to him a couple of times, but I love everything he's about. Now you're also a part of SEC football legends class this year, what does that honor mean to you on top of the Falcons honor, but this one as well? Yeah, it's huge. I mean, I just got an email from the SEC office and they're like, you hadn't sent your stuff in them and I said I'm kind of overloaded right now going to Atlanta this weekend. That's another huge honor. You look at all the guys that have come from the SEC that have played college football and it's huge. You know, growing up as a kid, looking back and I never would have dreamed that one of these things would happen, let alone two in the same year. So I'm humbled and definitely honored for both of these achievements. I wanted to get your thoughts on just kind of the culture football landscape right now. Lots of things going on with LSU football, obviously big win for them last week. Brian Kelly coming in there. What are your thoughts on what LSU is doing? Yeah, they're doing great. The way they started, I think a lot of guys and I think it's just common in college football now with the transfer portal, you have a different team every year and it's trying to jail as quick as possible. They went out that first day, played for our state and missed an extra point there. But if they get that, get back into that game, we're looking, I saw something yesterday, they may be a top five team right now. The fans here in Tiger country are pretty harsh. They love you one day, hate you the next right now. I think this group, Coach Kelly and his team is starting to jail a little bit. Yeah, and then you've mentioned the speech that you're writing for this weekend. I wanted to maybe see if you could give us a little preview of what you're thinking about. I don't know if you were talking about maybe how much Atlanta means to you and that kind of stuff, but what are some thoughts that are kind of going through your head as you're trying to gather those thoughts together? You know, just a lot about my family that helped raise me and get me to this, you know, a lot of thanks to Mr. Blank, the Falcons organization and just with those names, the other 11 guys that are in this ring of honor, it's some high names, guys that have meant a lot to me, guys that I've looked up to during my time in Atlanta and to be mentioned in those names, it's just, you know, I gotta pinch myself, I don't believe it. Well, it'll be happening on Sunday, regardless, we're all excited to see that big moment for you, big 13-year career here. A lot of people still love Mud Dog Around these parts, so thanks so much for joining us. We really appreciate the time and we'll be right back on Rise Up Tonight. Thank y'all. Hey Atlanta, this is Zed Crack talking and you're watching Rise Up Tonight presented by AT&T. It's like I don't get caught up in whatever narrative is after four weeks of the daily narratives. You can almost write some of these narratives and live and die every week by narratives because it sets up bad narratives. You can frame the narrative, you can write narratives, those are easy narratives. Not a good week for the narratives that we pushed last week. Sorry, Coach, about that one. You recycled a hot take last week, I think I'm gonna do that this week. Yeah, I hope yours is better than mine. We do like recycling around these parts. Well, we know this is a run-first offense and as we saw last week, maybe to a fault, but that's still a solid game plan for this Sunday when the Falcons meet a middle-of-the-pack run defense. Don't forget the Falcons still own the league's fourth best rushing attack. Like we talked about last week, this offense is able to find success when it establishes itself on the ground first. I think if they start there with their roots, they're able to be more balanced overall, finding themselves in better situations like no third in longs, not being down by double digits, all that kind of stuff. It's a lukewarm take, but it's my two cents this week. Lukewarm, but still important. And for my hot take look, we saw the secondary get tore up by Joe Burrow in the Bengals last week, but I do think we'll see them play better collectively as a group this week. Though you're still without some key starters, this group has now had a whole week of prep together, which they couldn't say they had last week, knowing that their depth will be tested. But the test isn't as significant. PJ Walker is not Joe Burrow, and there will be no Jamar Chase, Tyler Bort, or T. Higgins running around on this Sunday. I'm not saying the secondary is going to be at full strength because they're not, but I do think that they will look and play a little bit better. So it wasn't some kind of dream. The Panthers who have embraced the tank in a sense did beat Tom Brady in the Bucks last week. Arthur Smith talked about, hey, that's a nice reminder. We're all in the same league here. Yeah, Arthur Smith said that, yeah, this is, you don't want to have that type of reminder, but sometimes it's good to have. Yeah, anybody can win on any given Sunday, as they say. Well, that'll do it for us. Thanks for staying up late here on Rise Up Tonight for Tori McElhaney. I'm Kelly Price. We'll see you back here again next Friday night.