 in the Superdome in New Orleans. This is not necessarily the friendliest place in the world I have to play today. And today in the newspaper, by the way, they had 15 reasons why they should hate the Falcons. Hating the Falcons. This seems to me that every time these two franchises get together, it's going to be something crazy to happen. When you think about the mentality of playing games and national football, you try to keep that mentality of, OK, every game means the same. And they do, from a weight standpoint, each game goes from the winner to the lost column. But the same game meant a little bit more. You people got to make something happen. We got to find out what we are. Let's go. When we come around, it feels a little bit different. The hair stands up on your back a little bit more. You know, those are the games that's going to be a fight. It's going to be a dog fight. And it's going to be, you know, both teams want to do this before the time of the year. Touch the right. Morning, just football. You know, everybody got something to prove out there. Every possession, every play matter. You can't waste any opportunities. Superholds on, and it's an Atlanta touchdown. When you play there, everything's on the line. Just don't, we don't like them. We don't. So it's on. We're ready. Welcome to Rivalry Week, where this one just means just a little bit more. The Atlanta Falcons are hosting the Saints for the first time this season. And it's going to be a good one. It's going to last all 60 minutes. So we've got a lot to talk about. Thank you guys for joining us for the Falcons pre-game show presented by Ticketmaster. Of course, I'm Taylor Bisfor. Next to me is Derek Rackley. We took last week off, but we're back in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Are you all rested? I know the players are rested. They needed the bye week. Are you rested? Are you ready to crush this show? This is the biggest. This is like the best game to come back off the bye. Both teams coming off the bye. It's going to be a big game today. I think I agree with you. And they're celebrating the 50 years of hip-hop. So I'm just kind of letting you and all of the listeners and viewers know that if you see me start to bob a little bit or maybe sing, just know that they're rocking some great tunes behind us. Yeah, it's going to be a big, big game, but it's also going to be a big show from the start of pre-game to the end of the game. Lots of performers today in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It's going to be a really good time. But like we said, a huge rivalry here. But I know most of these rivalry games are tooth and nail fighting to the end. But for this season alone, the Falcons and the Saints are teaming up for a better cause. The Falcons and the Saints have one of the most heated rivalries in the NFL. However, this season the two organizations are coming together to fight for a common cause, to make a meaningful impact of the lives of those affected by ALS. Atlanta Falcons legend Tim Green, who played linebacker and defensive end for Atlanta from 1986 to 1993. And New Orleans Saints legend Steve Gleason, who played defensive back for the Saints from 2000 to 2006, are both battling the terrible disease. This year the organizations will host a 50-50 raffle at each game, today in Atlanta and in week 18 during New Orleans, with all proceeds going directly to tackle ALS and team Gleason. If you're coming to today's game, please look for 50-50 raffle ticket sellers wearing bright yellow shirts throughout Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Additionally, Tim Green and Steve Gleason are here with their families and will serve as honorary captains for their respective teams today. Such a great opportunity to give back and really help this terrible or find a cure for this terrible cause. It's going to be a really awesome game. I haven't been fortunate enough to meet Tim Green, but I played against Steve Gleason a number of times. He was actually in New Orleans the exact same time that I was here with Atlanta, the years that you just read. And I will tell you that he was probably one of the better punt blockers that I ever faced being on the punt team. He just had a knack for finding his way into backfield. And you're right, it's a rivalry game, but then you see what happens to Steve Gleason, to Tim Green. And it's just, it's so unfortunate because I see the pictures of Steve Gleason and I remember what he looked like when I played against him. And I'm like, gosh, this is just terrible. But I love the fact that the Saints continue to keep him around. Falcon's doing the same with Tim Green, continuing to honor him, continuing to find a cure for this disease. And hopefully at some point we do and we see less people that are struggling with this. Yeah, it's going to be great to see them in honorary captain form today, coming out in pregame to shake hands and for the point toss. So it's going to be really fun. But let's go ahead and get to the same conversation. This is a big rivalry today. First time that we're going to see this team out of two times in the season. So lots to talk about. We've met this team 108 different times. Oh, that's it. And it's split, 54, 54, it's up in the air. It's split 500 right down the middle. This just means more, right? Yeah, I mean, this is what a true rivalry matchup is. Sometimes you look at some of the rivalries, especially in college football and they're lopsided because one team has just always been that much better than the other. Even though maybe it's because they share a border or they're really close, they're in the same state. But with this one, you look at it competitively and it has been almost right down the middle. You talked about it from a win-loss perspective, but also the statistics are just eerie how close it is in this game. So I'm looking forward to this matchup. I mean, it's always one that, yes, I think Dave Archer was saying it and are open that it's another game, but the Saints is not always just another game. It's another game with a little bit more on the line. First time they got together was back in 1967. Saints are currently on a three-game winning streak in Atlanta, is desperate to go ahead and end that win streak today. Yeah, hoping to end that win streak and Desmond Rutter is gonna be back under center today and he's gonna be the starter for the remainder of the season. Arthur Smith spoke to that earlier in the week, but Desmond Rutter's first start last year was also after the buy and it was against the New Orleans Saints and media asked him this week if this game had the same kind of feeling that it did last year and he kind of laughed. He said, no, this is a completely different feeling. I know what to expect. I know what it's like under the pocket. I know how this offense runs. When you're a rookie and you're coming in for your first game, it's an entirely deer and headlight situation, so he feels more comfortable under the pocket today, but first time he's gonna be back after being benched during the Tennessee game. So big game for Desmond Rutter today. Yeah, big game for him and the perspective that he gained being out of the lineup, I'm looking forward to seeing if he's able to put that into motion on the field. And what I mean by that is some of the things that he learned, obviously, he knew that the main reason for him sitting out was the turnovers. They had to see if they could figure it out. Too many giveaways, too many fumbles, obviously interceptions as well, but I feel like that perspective of him being out of the lineup, maybe hearing things a little differently, having the earpiece in on the sidelines, hearing the play come in from Arthur Smith, but watching it from the sideline and then going into the film room and watching it at the film room, gaining a different perspective and appreciation for it now being back as the starter, I'm looking forward to seeing him go out there and be efficient, right? Like you don't have to win the game on every play. Take what the defense is giving you, but make sure you stay away from that catastrophic play. And if you are gonna run with football, because we know that he's an athletic quarterback, you gotta make sure you tuck the football away, expect the unexpected, especially somebody coming from behind you that's not in your vision, they are taught to go for the football first, tackle second, just can't afford to have any more of those giveaways. Yeah, two things that I wanna piggyback on of what you said, Desmond Rutter, obviously when he was benched, there's a lot to take in there, there's a lot of pride to kind of build back a little bit, but something I loved about Taylor Heineke when he took the reins is he let Desmond Rutter continue leading the team. That is huge, that's enormous for someone that is now back under center, taking the reins back to have been in that driver's seat, kind of all along and leading those team meetings. Second thing I wanna mention, you said he was a mobile quarterback, that he is, he's great on his feet as well, and that's something that the New Orleans Saints has made sure to work on during the bi-week because they haven't been great against mobile quarterbacks throughout the season, so they went back during the bi, watched all that tape of those mobile quarterbacks that they went against, they're trying to tweak those things, so it's gonna be interesting to see what Desmond Rutter is able to do and how they lock him down in the pocket today. I agree with you, and going back to your first point about still leading the meetings, not only Taylor Heineke allowing that to happen, but Desmond Rutter being that one that still wants to do it because it's real easy in that situation, Taylor, to feel bad about yourself, to kind of distance yourself a little bit and say, well, that was my job, and it's not anymore, but that was not his attitude. He wanted to continue to lead the meetings, he wanted to still be a leader of this team, and we talked a little bit about the rivalry, just look at how these stats end up stacking up. The one, there's one playoff game that ended up having this thing tied at 54-54, and I went back this morning, Taylor, and I look back at the six years that I played for the New Orleans Saints, because I don't have a telegraphic memory. I mean, that was a long time ago, 23 years ago with my rookie year, but over the six years that I played the Saints, two games a year, split right down the middle. It's insane. In six, in six years. So it just, it mirrors exactly what we just saw right there, such a heated rivalry, but a very closely contested rivalry. Yeah, so we talked about Desmond Rutter under the center today. Let's go to the other team. Derek Carr will be under center as well today for the Saints. He obviously came out before the bye week against the Vikings because of a shoulder injury and for a concussion protocol. He will be back under center today. He said he's ready to go. So when you look at Derek Carr, obviously a veteran quarterback, we kind of know what a ceiling is. We know what he brings to the table. What do the Falcons need to do to be able to shut this quarterback down? Well, just try to limit his ability to gain confidence early on in the game, because you're right, he's a veteran. He's made a lot of plays in this league. He was paid a lot of money from the New Orleans Saints to come over and be that starting quarterback. And you mentioned in the Minnesota game, he had the shoulder injury that was kind of a nagging injury from back from week three, but he also ended up being in concussion protocol. So when so many of the players end up leaving on the bye week and they go take some time away, they go on a vacation with their family, they go back and watch their college team or whatever it was. Derek Carr stayed in New Orleans and his job was treatment. His job was to get himself back to where he can be the starting quarterback for the New Orleans Saints. And they were able to remove him from the injury report this week because of all that work. He said that the bye week came at the absolute perfect time for him. But this defense makes some plays against him early. Get the pass rush in his face early to make him feel uncomfortable. Tip some passes at the line of scrimmage, take the football away. It's easiest way for a quarterback that's playing on the road to kind of squabble his ability to gain confidence early on in the game. That's what I'd like to see from Atlanta's defense. You mentioned the Atlanta defense. You got two players that came from the Saints during free agency this year. Kate and Ellis and David on Yamada. They've made immediate impacts for this defensive team for Atlanta. And we've got a lot of people on this Falcons team that came from the Saints, whether that's in the front office with Terry Faunno came from the Saints. But then you go all the way down to an Albert Huggins who also came from the Saints. So many people on this list, so many people on the 53 man roster and part of this organization that came from the Saints. Yeah, personnel department and players on this team. And so it just means a little bit more to those guys too. I mean, don't you think that David on Yamada and a Kate and Ellis want to prove to the Saints that they are better players, that things are working out well in Atlanta, that they're on a better team? I mean, Kate and Ellis having a great season and he's tied for the team lead in tackles with Jesse Bates at 73. He's got a couple of sacks on the season as well. Jesse Bates, three interceptions this year, but these couple of guys and the rest of them that are going to get into this, I mean, Terry Faunno probably urging the coaching staff a little bit more, prepare a little bit more. Let's make this a statement because so much familiarity between these two organizations and they want to go out on a bang today. Yeah, so we mentioned David on Yamada. He was out the week before the buy. He is active today. He will be playing his old team, a little bit of blood in the water. That's what Kate and Ellis said earlier this week too. That's blood in the water. It's time to go. David on Yamada will be active today. So let's go ahead and get to the inactive list for the Atlanta Falcons. A lot of people will be active today that they were not active for against the Arizona Cardinals. That's again, David on Yamada will be back. D Allford will be back. Young Wake Koo was a big question mark with a strain at the back. He is active today. Matt Collins obviously will be inactive for this Falcons team today. What does Matt Collins missing the link? What does that mean? Yeah, I mean, that's obviously another playmaker, a big body, somebody that can go over the top of the defense that you're not going to have at your discretion. So he's missed a couple of games, but again, this is an area as far as playmakers and pass catchers where Atlanta has developed some depth. They've got guys that they feel confident. So now you need to Drake London. You need to Kyle Pitts to bring a little bit more to the table. There's so many different guys that can get into the action in the passing game. So yes, you're hoping that Matt Collins gets back out here. I don't know if they're going to lose a ton offensively just because of all the different depth that they developed there. So it's good to have not only the guys that you talked about, Koo, they had to sign a kicker because they thought that there was a chance that he wouldn't be able to play, but he's going to be active in this game. So big boost for Atlanta. Yes, let's go ahead and get to the Saints inactive. Obviously, the inactive list is not the main story today. It's the IR list, the Endure Reserve. Obviously, Michael Thomas was placed on IR with an e-injury. And then yesterday, Marshawn Lattimore placed on IR as well with an ankle injury. Big, big misses for the Saints team. What do you make of this? Yeah, Marshawn Lattimore played his entire career with the New Orleans Saints. Former first round draft pick. He's got 15 career interceptions. So not having him there is obviously a downgrade for the New Orleans Saints. It's something that's going to help Atlanta a little bit. But they've got some guys that have been taking away the football in the defensive backfield. I'll talk a little bit more about Paulson Debo a little bit later on in the show. But the other interesting nugget, as far as player that will be available, is the Saints did elevate Jason Pierre-Paul from the practice squad. And Atlanta's got some familiarity with him. 94 and 1 half career sacks, 21-force fumbles. So he'll be in action today. Kind of interesting to see a guy like Jason Pierre-Paul in the practice squad. A little bit toward the end of his career. But these are some of the players that are not going to be involved. See if Atlanta can take advantage of the secondary without having a guy like Marshawn Lattimore. Now you don't have Michael Thomas opposite of Crystal Lave. Helps them defensively because it's two really productive receivers for them. All right, so let's go ahead and talk about what the Falcons can do to secure this win against the Saints. These are the keys to the game, presented by Wells Fargo. So go ahead, Rack, take it away. What is the first key of the game today? I know I've been harping on this one all season long. But ball security is going to be number one. We talked a lot about the turnovers and the giveaways for the Atlanta Falcons. 16 giveaways this year, nine of them coming via fumble. And we talked about some of the issues with Desmond Ritter. He's got to be able to get that fix coming back into the lineup as a starting quarterback. But think about the other side of the coin. 18 takeaways for the New Orleans Saints' defense, including 12 interceptions. And as I mentioned, Paulson and Debo, four picks this year. It's top five in the national football league. They're going to have to make sure they find out where he is because he's had a knack of taking the football away. But ball security, and I don't want to take away anything from Atlanta getting takeaways as well. But ball security, to me, is at the forefront. You've got to be able to make sure we tuck it away. The ball cannot end up on the turf. No interceptions in this game. So there's going to be a lot on the shoulders of this guy right here, Desmond Ritter, to make sure they protect the football. Yeah, a big focal point for Desmond Ritter before Tennessee was the fumbles. And the turnovers that he created obviously has six interceptions on the season with six touchdowns as well, but has seven fumbles so far this year. It was a key thing that they've worked on during the buy as well as how to fix those fumbles. But with Desmond Ritter, you learn a little bit when you're benched, and you watch Taylor Heinecke and how he runs his offense a little bit. But what you're wanting in Desmond Ritter today, especially with this defense, who has so many turnovers for them, you don't want to force anything. You don't want to rush anything. You want to find a way to slow the field down. Maybe that's going out of the pocket for him, like DJ said on Falcon's Audible. When you're an athletic quarterback and you can kind of move out of the pocket, everything kind of slows down for you. And so for Desmond Ritter, it's going to be a big question of will he be able to let things fly and not force anything down? Yeah, he's got to still take his chances. You don't want to take the edge away from a quarterback because that's the ability to make some of the big plays downfield. So you don't want to play scared. You don't want to play hesitant, but you want to take what the defense gives you and just read it, right? If the safeties make the rotation and you've got the skinny post down the middle of the field, cut it loose and take the skinny post. But if you see somebody that spooks you away from it, it's okay. Go ahead and find Bijan Robinson or Tyler Algier out in the flat, dump the ball down, let them turn up field and pick up five or six yards and live to play on second down. Those are all okay. All right, but speaking of Bijan Robinson and Tyler Algier and Drake London, what is the second key to the game today? Yeah, let's get some touches for these playmakers. And I've got some numbers that I put aside, just arbitrary my own numbers, but number one, Drake London, five plus touches in this game. I think he's averaging 4.4 a game right now, but I just think good things happen, especially downfield, when you get the ball in the hands of Drake London. He's got the ability to go up over the top of the defense, use his physicality to kind of box out some of these defensive backs. He needs to touch the ball five plus times in my opinion. Tyler Algier, 10 plus touches in this game. Notice I'm saying touches because this could be run game, this could be catches out of the backfield. You think about Tyler Algier when he gets in short yardage and goal line situations, how much a force he is for this offense, picking up first downs, pounding his way into the end zone for touchdowns. 10 plus touches for Algier. And then you can't leave out Bijan Robinson. 15 plus touches for Bijan in this game. Again, whether that's on the ground or through the air, one of the most electric playmakers Atlanta has right now. I think he's got to touch the football 15 times or more in this game to give ourselves the best chance to win this football game. I think if that happens, five, 10, 15 for those guys, spread the rest of the wealth out between the other guys, they're going to be in really good hands. Yeah, I love that you gave the most touches to the running backs. Tyler Algier, Bijan Robinson, we've said it once, we've said it a million times. Tyler is a human bowling ball. He just runs downhill, where Bijan is a little bit more of a shifty running back. But if you give those two guys opportunities because of this, how good this run game is and how not so great New Orleans has been against a run game in defense. So far, this season, Atlanta is averaging 130 yards per game on the ground. New Orleans in the last three games has allowed 148 yards per game on the ground as well. So it's going to be a big game. Possibly a lot of touches for Bijan and Tyler today. Yeah, and as you mentioned, it seems like there's been some holes lately in that run defense for New Orleans. So got to take advantage of it, exploit that. But you get the hands in the ball, the ball in the hands of these three playmakers and they're going to be in good shape. All right, so we told everyone about our three playmakers, Drake, Tyler and Bijan. But we also have to keep the ball away from their three playmakers. Yeah, they got three pretty good ones in my opinion. Obviously Michael Thomas out, but Alvin Camara, the running back and he is so involved in the passing game as well. They've got to keep him to a minimum in this game. Alvin Camara comes in this game with 104 carries and 50 receptions on the season. Four total touchdowns. So as you can see, they get the football in his hands. Also, Taysom Hill, the quarterback, slash running back, slash wide receiver, slash tight end, does a little bit of everything for the New Orleans Saints. Again, you could expect him in the run game, the pass game or maybe even behind center. And then finally, Chris Olave, their young receiver is already into a great position in his NFL career. You got to slow these three guys down. If you can keep them to somewhat minimal numbers at the end, you're going to be in good shape. And the Saints also reported not to overlook Joanne Johnson as their tight end because you might be focusing on these three playmakers and really focusing on them and double teaming them. And you might leave Joanne way open downfield and have a really big explosive play for the New Orleans Saints. So we'll see what they're able to do today. Yeah, not to say that there's not other playmakers on the New Orleans Saints offense. I've just seen in history, these are the three guys that have a tendency of hurting not only Atlanta, but all the teams that they play. So you got to make sure you got an eye on those guys and slow them down in the game. Yeah, it's going to be a good game. So let me ask you this, as a former Falcons player, favorite memory of a Saints game? I'm going to put you on the spot a little bit here. Favorite memory? My favorite memory is, and I hate to say this, but going down to New Orleans and the amount of noise and the ability, like trying to stay focused just because of the way that stadium is built and how loud they get for this matchup, right? I'll never forget some of those that's like, it's an older stadium, it's an older locker room. You got to come in, you got to walk all the way through the field to get to the locker room and then you come back out. I'm just going to remember so many times down in New Orleans, but as I mentioned, six wins, six losses. It's been so closely contested back in my career and it's been that way for some of these guys as well. Yeah, well, I have not seen a Saints win as a Falcon yet. Obviously I started with the Falcon last year and my first travel game was the Saints game. So I was kind of like a desert rudder for the video team a little bit and I almost, let me tell you this embarrassing story. Desmond Ritter and I almost collided during his first run out. It was horrible. I like wanted to cry. I felt so bad, but we didn't touch. He's, you know, he's a little more back. He shifted right around me. He didn't even think anything about it, but I, it's still like singed in my brain today. But anyway, nonetheless, it's going to be a good game today. Hopefully I can see my first Saints win today. Yeah, let's do me a favor. Don't run into Desmond Ritter. No, I'm going to stay off to steal this game. I'm done. I hung up my clades a little bit there. There you go, there you go. It is the 50th anniversary of hip hop today. There's a bunch of people on that set list that are here today. Any favorites, anyone that you're most excited to see? Probably T.I. And I don't want to let the cat too far out of the bag, but T.I. and his song, Bring Him Out, was even played when I was playing, right? And so there's just a little bit of goose bumps that come on, every time I hear that song, I don't think about anything else than when I ran out of the tunnel, when I played for the Falcons. So T.I. is in the building today. Yeah, it's so good it's unmatched, but I think something that matches close to it is welcome to Atlanta. Jermaine DePri is also here today. He's going to be around. I got to actually meet him. You know, we're talking about the hip hop, and I was going to put this on. I didn't want it to be too distracting, but like, how about this? Is this just me? I think it goes nicely with my outfit. Y'all white. Someone called Jesse Bates a third. I know, right? Which one do you want? Jesse Bates' chain or this one? But Jermaine DePri will be here. Obviously was a co-creator of Welcome to Atlanta. And funny enough, a lot of the guys from the locker room did not know the lyrics to Welcome to Atlanta. Gosh, they're too young. Take a look. Welcome to Atlanta where? Where the play is plays and we rock. It's like every day. Welcome to Atlanta where the play is played and we ride on a thing like. The play is played when you something by area day. Am I right? Welcome to Atlanta. Welcome to Atlanta. Oh, it's the old G-1. Oh, welcome to Atlanta. What a play, a play and we ride on a thing like. The players play and we ride on a thing like every day. Big reaches, big changes, wrongly. Probably knows that there ain't a lot of it. Finally, Keith Smith. I love it. Somebody knows the lyrics. Saved it. He fully said everyone was like, welcome to Atlanta. And then a couple of like, right? Richie killed me. He's just like mumbling nothing. Come on. There's like certain songs that when you live in the Atlanta area, you just got to know the lyrics, too. If you get drafted, I think that has to be like a class. Like hip hop 101. Here's what you need to know. Here's your playbook. Here's what time you need to be at meetings. Make sure you know the lyrics to these songs. OK? Anyway, that's enough of that song for right now. I'm sure we're going to hear it later today. Again, lots of performers here at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The first meeting of the Saints that we have so far this year. And the last meeting will be week 18. The division will come down to that game in week 18 down in New Orleans. So we'll see how this game pans out. Obviously, both teams looking for a win coming off thereby. But until then, thank you guys joining us so much for the Falcons pre-game show presented by Ticketmaster. Enjoy the game.