Rise Up Tonight | Week 9 2026

It's Thursday night in the A. You know what that means. Kelly Price and Tori McElhaney is coming at you on Rise Up Tonight, presented by AT&T. Buenas noches, mi Falcons familia. We've got a transcontinental rise of tonight coming at y'all tonight with me holding it down here in the A and Tori McElhaney joining us from Madrid where the Falcons are getting ready to take on the Bengals on Sunday morning. That's all very exciting, but this is all coming off walking the plank in Tampa in a game that just wasn't a mess because of the weather made worse by the momentum that took a screeching halt coming off that big win against the 49ers the week before. For me, it kind of boils down to one query. How is this the same team? Let's huddle up about it, y'all. Let's huddle up with Kelly and Tori on the world of Falcons football. And that starts with one Michael Penix Jr. How does he go from NFC Offensive Player of the Week worthy performance to the worst quarterback outing in the league? Which that was as he became the first quarterback to throw four or more picks in a game this season. On top of being shut out, he just wasn't the patient, decisive, sharp Penix that Torrey and I literally talked about a week ago at this desk. It was monsooning out there, sure, but we cannot blame his decision-making on the weather, Torrey. What was going on there? Yes, Kelly, this game for Michael Penix Jr. actually reminds me of another game early last year against the Carolina Panthers up in Charlotte. That was another game where Michael Penix Jr. and the Falcons' offense couldn't really get into a groove. It was obvious that Michael Penix was uncomfortable in the pocket, and when that happens, it led to some untimely throws and some bad decisions. So that leads to my next question. If it's so similar, how did Mike respond when faced with a bad performance last year? And the answer is pretty good, actually. He bounced back, leading the Falcons to bat. Back-to-back wins over the Commanders and the Bills, and through those two games, he accounted for over 600 passing yards, four touchdown passes, and only one interception. So, if we're looking at this as a jumping-off point, it kind of seems to me that Michael Penix Jr. is used to having some adversity, facing some adversity, and then bouncing back, which is what he'll need to do this Sunday as well. All right, so you're telling me there's a chance. All right, another befuddlement among the puddlement in Tampa. The Bucs set a franchise record on Sunday in rushing yards. They also had tripled the amount of yards on the ground as Atlanta. Tampa also more than doubled the rushing attempts with 58 to Atlanta's 26. I don't know, the last time I checked, the Falcons have this guy, Bijan Robinson, on their roster. Best running back in the league? You might have heard of him. So Torrey, explain this to me like I'm five. Why did they not run the ball more? Especially after Penix's early passing struggles. Kelly, is it fair to say that I don't know? Genuinely, I don't know. And I know the calculus kind of gets thrown off a little bit in the third and fourth quarter when the Falcons are actively having to come from behind. You can't bleed the clock. But this is a game that in the first half had the most combined runs of almost any game in NFL history. The Falcons were significantly more balanced in their approach, which normally you'd be pumped about. But considering the conditions, not so much. The Falcons only ran the ball 16 times of their 28 total plays in the first half 71 rushing yards and I know that may sound like a lot but compare it to Tampa who went to design runs 25 times out of their first half 29 plays. They picked up over 130 yards on the ground when doing so. We're going to talk to offensive coordinator Tommy Reese later in the week and I imagine that's probably going to be the first thing he's asked about. Yeah, I can't wait to hear his answer for that. So that leads me to this Madrid meeting between the Dirty Birds and the Bengals. Oddly enough, the Bengals were taken to overtime by the Titans before winning that one 43-36. But Joe Burrow is pretty good. He put up six touchdowns, five passing, and one rushing on Sunday. Very different scoring situation than what we saw in the Falcons game, of course. So I don't think Atlanta has seen the kind of receiving core that they're going to be facing in Spain either. So, Tori, what challenges do you see on paper for the Falcons in this one? Well, Kelly, you said it. The Bengals' offense is humming right now. I don't think they've scored less than 30 points in a game in the last three outings. They're really going above and beyond. They're explosive, and they're getting in the end zone. I think when you're looking at where they are right now, they really have two number one receivers like you talked about. And when the Falcons have the chance to put points on the boards, they have to because right now it kind of feels like this thing could be a shootout. The Falcons' offense needs to be allergic to three and outs It's because it's not enough to hope that. That Joe Burrow and the Bengals don't score, they're going to. We've been told this Falcons offense has big play potential, and they're going to need all of that and more this Sunday against the Bengals in this offense specifically. You know, we're used to these massive lockers, you know, we have 300 plus pound linemen and, you know, they have, you know, obviously they're more slender soccer players. And so you do have to get a lot more creative in terms of space. Have you ever tried to fit a Chris Lindstrom size puzzle piece into a space that's kind of more meant for a Lionel Messi type guy? That's the job Brandon Ruth and the Falcons ops team have this week, taking the Falcons into a European soccer stadium. The VP of Team Ops lets us into some of the fascinating details that make these international trips go later in the show. Plus, lots more Madrid talk to come, including my recs from my trip there last year, what Tori is feeling out there, and how do the Falcons themselves, what do they want to do? What do they want to see, eat, drink? So that's all still to come here 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 Mercedes-Benz, the best of nothing. And by Home Depot, how doers get more done. Ever wonder what's really on your favorite player's mind? It's time for the question of the week. Who are you most excited to try, do, see on the Madrid trip? Just to see the different cultures, you know, it gives you a different perspective on life and allows you to be grateful for, you know, what you have and what other people have as well. Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows, everything that's... I'm a big, so we usually go and guys know what to do and sometimes we don't know the schedule so you can't get a tour guide, so I'll just pull up the Google Maps. The hotel's here. Wait. So I'll go to whatever the landmarks are, I'll sit outside of it and read the Wikipedia page and be like, oh, that's pretty cool. Hey, listen, listen, we're not going to have to walk this way the entire time, are we? The food, I guess I don't know too much about the food, so I'm an offensive lineman, stereotypical answer, I'm excited about the food. We'll be right back. I definitely am on the search for a real conquistador. Some of those guys actually linked up with Jude Bellingham from Real Madrid, the star there, so that's pretty cool that they got to do that as well. So before they packed their bags for Madrid, the Falcons made sure they showed some love to a group of veterans working their way back into life after service. As we rise up for Atlanta, brought to you by Truist. The Falcons hosted and treated vets to dinner and a night out at the driving range at Top Golf. From some of the newest faces to legends, these Falcons made sure to spend time with Team Rubicon, a group that supports vets and their transition post-service. Along with the golf, the vets received MVP awards for their swings. Falcons linebacker Josh Woods told us how thankful he is for events like this, being able to honor the men and women who sacrifice so much for our country. At the end of the day, I feel like, I mean, they just make the ultimate sacrifice, and I don't know if they get the recognition that they deserve. I feel like maybe we should do something on a larger scale, but as far as what I'm able to do and give back and when the opportunities present themselves, I try to make sure I come through. And he is the man with the plan. Literally, if Brandon Ruth does not plan it, it does not happen for the Falcons. The team's logistics master peels back the curtain on everything that goes into transporting flowery branch across the Atlantic Ocean. He joins me in the nest next. Welcome back to Rise Up Tonight. Let's head in the nest with Kelly, Tori, and this week's special guest, brought to you by Mercedes-Benz. We get into Madrid week. Is this something that you have been looking forward to or more anxiety kind of inducing at this point? Yeah, it's funny. It's a little bit of both. You're really excited to do another international trip. This is our fourth one in the last six years, so there's a little bit of anxiety because I am a little bit of a perfectionist. You do want it to go extremely well, everything operationally, but there's so much excitement. Another new country, new city, a new experience for our team to have. So when you get that schedule, when it first comes out, is that kind of the first thing you look, okay, when is that Madrid game, when is that international game, is that the first thing you kind of look for? No, like it completely is, like because you really look to see like when that game is and then what's around it, like are we at home, are we at road before, what's after that game, do we have another home game, do we get a bye week, so that really does shape everything else, not just for that game, but what happens before and after, so it is the first thing your eyes go toward. So when you see that you have an international game coming up, are you like, okay, I got to get, I went to my contact at the passport office, like what is the first kind of thing that you do? No, passport, you hit the nail on the head. Passport is really one of the first things because regardless of anything else, like we can't go over there unless everybody does have a passport. So that process starts early. As soon as we start bringing our rookies in for rookie mini camp, they are the first ones who start getting processed. Obviously, we have a lot of new coaches on our staff this year, so we do them during the springtime as well. So we start that process early, and luckily we have a great relationship with the passport agents. They've been phenomenal partners to us to help get over 250 passports completed. We've all at home had like a UPS tracking number that we're like waiting for some package like can't wait for this to get here. I'm sure that you have that on a bigger scale with like all the stuff you guys have going over there. When did that stuff leave? Like what is the process of that? Does it go on a boat, on a plane, both, all of the above? Yes, no, we actually sent over almost 32 pallets of equipment. So probably over 32,000 thousand pounds over in at the beginning of August all that's going over on the ocean freight shipment so that goes over like we don't even see it it's on the boat now probably about its way to dock and get delivered so we send that and then we also have an air freight shipment that just went out last week just with some of our kind of more key items that we can't send that early but you know between Gatorades and waters that we're sending over obviously travel adapters That we send over a lot of our athletic training, equipment that we use on the field for practice, all those things from all those various departments have to all go over. So we try to look at ourselves as kind of like a magnet. We get all the needs from everybody, bring it all in to us, and then we'll work with you guys to get all that stuff over there. a couple of these under your belt at this point but even from last year's Berlin game what is something that you learned from that that you're like oh in Madrid we're gonna do that differently yeah no i think uh one of the things that we actually did really well in Madrid was uh well in Berlin was the meals like how we kind of did our food what offerings we had when we saw guys going out to eat on their own versus when they were staying in the hotel to eat in the meal room and what offerings they enjoyed so we don't want it to be exactly how we do it in the U.S. like if we were to go domestically to New Orleans or We do want them to still experience some of the local place that they're at. And so this year with Madrid, we really focus on the menu that does have those local offerings, what the hotel does really well, what the chefs there do really well, but still incorporate some of the favorites. Because we do have guys that, hey, I love a cheeseburger, I love chicken wings. We still want to have those, but we also understand the importance of giving them a little bit of cultural variety. Yeah, you've got to have the tapas along with maybe the wings or whatever it is. Yes, especially with the tapas. You've got to have a little bit of that. When you've been over there, I mean, did you have a chance to sightsee or have any of those local flavors yourself? Because, like, you might be a little busy this time around to not do as much of that. No, I will definitely be busy this time around, but the first time we went, I was able to, you know, kind of make some time for myself, go on a little run through the city. It's a beautiful city. You know, I have been lucky enough to go over, see London, obviously Berlin a lot of times, and Madrid is just, it's breathtaking. Just a different type of city. The culture there, the people, the way they kind of live life is just so different than what we do here in the U.S., so I'm really excited, and I'm a huge history buff, like museums, the buildings, the churches, everything. I just love it over there, so I'm really excited to see it all again. Yeah, and Madrid is kind of like a D.C. here, like it's the capital, so it's a lot of history and a lot of government kind of buildings and things like that, so right up your alley, it sounds like. Yeah, like you'll walk down the street, and you'll see a blockade, and you're like, Like, you know, I'm not supposed to go down this road, so. Yeah, there's so many, obviously, challenges at the stadium as well once you get to game day. What are some things that going to a soccer stadium, you know, a European soccer stadium, that are challenges for you? I mean, you think about both locker rooms or dressing rooms, I guess they call them, are made for such smaller amounts of people than a 53-man roster, and the sidelines are different, and there's just so many logistical, like, what is the biggest challenge when you think of that? No, Kelly, I think you hit the nail on the head, just, you know, you might as well just come work operations. Your mind is in the right place, but no, it really is, you know, you think about the locker room size and, you know, we're used to these massive lockers, you know, we have 300 plus pound linemen and, you know, they have, you know, obviously they're more slender soccer players and so you do have to get a lot more creative in terms of space, even with the training room, even with like the restrooms, like, you know, the toilets, how many showers you have. They're not used to hosting, you know, we're going to bring closer to 70 players on this trip and, you know, they have a smaller soccer team. The NFL does a great job of, you know, finding solutions for that, but even on our end, you still have to get a little creative. Earlier this season, obviously, the Rams kind of took a lot of headlines about how they handled their Australia travel, and I know this is a way different travel situation, but how do you work with, you know, the other sides of the building and other departments in this building to... You know, how are our guys going to sleep? How are we going to get there? And what are we going to do when we get there? And all that kind of stuff on the sports science side. Yes. No. So it all starts with the head coach. So, you know, we did it. You know, we're going over and it starts with Coach Stefanski. And we say, hey, coach, when you know, how do you picture this? You know, when do you want to go? And then he makes that decision. And then it's up to us to go to all the other departments and say, hey, What is the best way for us to structure this for when he wants to leave and get there to make sure that our operation is seamless as possible. And so we look at ourselves as the glue. We want to make sure that we keep everybody together so that way they can do their jobs as good as possible from video equipment, athletic training, nutrition, obviously coaching as well. So we take it that hit everybody and then hey, let's go win a football game. And when you look ahead to this Madrid game, obviously you're looking forward to the actual game kicking off. Are you kind of busier, more nervous, more anxious as you get to kick off? And then kickoff happens, you're like, OK, I can breathe maybe just for a second before I have to take care of the next thing. Or what is the calm? After the storm, or before the storm, maybe. So kickoff, it's like you get your first breath, because it's like we made it to the game. Yes. But it's a quick breath, because we still then have to get over to the airport. We still have to get everybody on the plane and back to Atlanta right after the game. So still a lot of logistical hurdles. But I think, as many of my friends who travel on the charter know, is once we get on that plane and we're flying back, I think my body just taps out. And so I'm knocked out within about five minutes. And that's my... My deep breath moment and so once we are on that plane going back to Atlanta I'm kind of like okay we made it we did what we had to do hopefully we ended it with with a victory but knowing that we had a smooth logistical trip still brings a lot of joy and pride to not only myself but to everybody in our operation. A transatlantic flight back after a win much better. Much better. Well thanks for joining me Brandon, appreciate it. Hey Atlanta, this is Ed Gregg talking, and you're watching Rise Up Tonight, presented by AT&T. I'm having a serious FOMO seeing all my Falcons fans in Madrid this week. My husband and I actually took a trip to Spain last year. It was really a cool country to immerse yourself in. So that being said, if anyone else watching right now is heading over to Spain, I wanted to drop some of my musts in Madrid. My favorite site was the Royal Palace. It was built by Philip V. He actually grew up in Versailles, and apparently every Spanish king since him has tried to one up with enrichment. They still use it for official events, just like Buckingham Palace over in England. Next up, and disclaimer, I'm not much of like an artsy person, but Madrid has three incredible art museums. You can get a combo ticket for all three. It's called Paseo del Arte. And my favorite was the Reina Sofia because of Picasso's moving masterpiece, Guernica. Learn the history before you see it. You see all the details and give yourself a lot of time to take it in. It is a lot. That is my advice. Finally, the last two, take an afternoon stroll and or siesta in Retiro Park, which is where you saw Tori, a beautiful central park of Madrid. And you must do a progressive tapas dinner. Two streets to hit would be Calle de Jesus near the Prado. And checking in with our Chief Madrid correspondent Tori now. Give us an update. One, how are you feeling after the flight and everything? But also, number two, what do you want to see, eat, and do still while you're there? All right, Kelly, I'm feeling okay. It's Friday morning here and I'm getting caught up to speed on my sleep. So it's not too bad right now, but I'll let you know. But I did want to tell you something that I'm doing later today that I'm super excited about. Going to see the Museo de Prado, which I don't think I said right at all. Spanish is not my thing, but I'm so excited to see some art, some culture. I've never been to Spain, so this is a real treat for me. And speaking of treats I know I am so excited to get some Spanish wine in me, all the tapas I could possibly possibly eat and my goal is to have at least one churro per day so I will let you know and keep you up to date on how that endeavor is going. I almost included churros in my recs but yeah that's that's another good one. All right one more thing to monitor for this game on Sunday morning after fulfilling his eight game suspension James Pierce Jr. will make his season debut in this game in Madrid. He's been practicing all week there and according to DC Jeff Ulbrich Pierce will be on a pitch count, primarily playing in passing situations, but that he could maybe play some more depending on the conditioning he shows this week and in the game itself as he kind of works to get back into a bit more of a midseason form. Man, the weather looks so amazing in Madrid. That shot with Tori, the leaves looked amazing. Yeah, just an amazing week ahead for all of those people going over for all the sightseeing in Madrid. So this matchup against the Bengals is going to be Atlanta's sixth regular season game outside the country, second in as many seasons. We'll be monitoring the situation Saturday morning Eastern time here. For now, thanks for staying up real late with us tonight. For Tori McElhaney back in Madrid, I'm Kelly Price here in Atlanta. Good night.