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00:00Let's talk to the Diddy. You know, one of the things we've loved about this season
00:03was bringing Ray Dittinger back as a weekly guest on our show,
00:06obviously for so many years here on WIP. Then he had retired, and then Ray graciously agreed
00:11to be a weekly guest again on our program, and this time it goes all the way up to Super Bowl
00:1659. We welcome him, the legend, Ray Dittinger. Ray Ditty, how are you, sir?
00:22Doing good, Joe. How are you?
00:23Oh, Ray, I'm so happy. I am so happy. Ray, tell me your thoughts off the top of the Eagles
00:30performance yesterday, and obviously going to be arriving at Super Bowl 59.
00:34Yeah, I know. It's a great one. There are so many different ways you can look at yesterday's game.
00:41I mean, it's the kind of game where Nick Sirianni, when it was over, referred to a total
00:46team effort, and it really was. It really was. I mean, the offense, obviously, 459 yards total
00:52offense in a championship game. That's pretty impressive, working through some injury issues
00:56on your offensive line. The defense coming up with all the takeaways, and some big plays on
01:03special teams. A couple big returns and good field position, and the special teams forced
01:08to take away at a key moment that's helped the Eagles open a little space there in the first
01:12half. I mean, every phase of the game, the Eagles won, and that's how you win championships.
01:19Yeah, no question.
01:21It's so funny watching the game, and watching that pitch to Barkley to start the game,
01:27and him going 60. To start the game, I just had a flashback to Wilbert Montgomery's Cowboys. I
01:34just did. I mean, it's a championship game, at home, in front of a big crowd, all that electricity.
01:39You hand it to your big guy right there. Well, in Wilbert's case, it was the second play.
01:43That's right.
01:44In this case, it was the first. But just watching him. We'll all remember the sight of Wilbert
01:48bursting through the line and heading it down the open field to the end zone at Veterans Stadium.
01:53And when Barkley turned that corner and started opening up the field, I was like,
01:56my God, this is Wilbert Montgomery all over again.
01:59So I thought the same thing.
02:00You love having good memories like that.
02:02Yeah.
02:03The Lord knows we've had enough bad memories. Flashbacks to bad things. It's nice to have
02:07one that's wonderful.
02:08Well, I'll give you one, just for what it's worth. So Wilbert and Deuce both scored on
02:12the second play of an NEC championship game. And of course, he was—
02:15Yeah, one better than the other.
02:16Both went through my mind, but I get your point entirely.
02:18He goes undefeated against the NFC East in championship games, too.
02:21How about that?
02:22All right, Ray, I thought Jalen was superb yesterday. His performance, what'd you make of it?
02:28Really good. Really, really good. I mean, for all the questions and all the doubts and all
02:31the concern and all the angst that surrounded him all week about how hurt is he, how much
02:37is he going to be able to play, how limited might he be. All that stuff. I mean, he went
02:42out and he played great. 20 for 28, 246 yards. 110 quarterback rating, which to me doesn't
02:49even begin to describe how good he was. Throws for one TD, runs for three. He was great. I mean,
02:56he really, really was. And that's a big thing. I mean, you're going on to the championship
03:02game and he's going up against the best of the best. And he's going to have to be as good as
03:09he was yesterday and then some to win the next game because he's going up against the best big
03:13game quarterback you've got in the NFL right now. So he's, you know, the Eagles have been down this
03:18road before and, you know, they took on Tom Brady when he was at his peak and they found a way to
03:22win that game. They're going to have to find a way to do it this time. But Hurts was really,
03:28really in command. I mean, there were a lot of really good plays that he made in that game,
03:32but the fourth and fourth pass to Brown down the sideline was just great. I mean,
03:39it's, you know, they're in the quarterback walk in the earth that could have thrown that ball
03:43any better than he did. I mean, he just, you know, he just dropped it right in the bucket
03:47down the sideline. And that was a big play in that game. And, you know, they made a lot of them.
03:52And of course, Saquon is, you know, he's the guy everybody's going to focus on, but you come away
03:57from that. I'm coming away from that saying, God, you know, there was all the pressure and all the
04:01eyes that were on Jalen Hurts and wondering, is he going to be equal to the moment? Well,
04:05he was equal to it, and then some. Just incredible performance. The offense
04:11overall, I did feel like, Ray, the defense in terms of stopping some of those conversions,
04:18the third downs, the fourth down conversions, our defense, did they take a step back against
04:24the commanders? And how concerned are you moving forward about that conversion rate,
04:29that situational football, third and fourth down conversions? Did our defense take a step back?
04:36I don't think so, John. I think they just ran into it. You know, that's a hot offense.
04:41Yeah, they really are. I mean, they scored 45 on Detroit last week. So,
04:45I mean, that's a hot offense. You weren't going to shut them down. I mean, they were going to
04:49make their plays. But in the second half, when you really needed to, you know, they came up
04:54with the stops. And the, you know, the turnovers, listen, I mean, we talk about it endlessly,
04:59about how big turnovers are in all NFL games, especially in the postseason. And the giveaway,
05:05takeaway thing is what swings the balance so often. And never was that more true than yesterday,
05:11when you saw that. I mean, those, the four takeaways was huge. And if you look at where
05:16the Eagles are right now, they're plus 10 giveaway, takeaway in the postseason. Not
05:21talking about the regular season, they're plus 10 in the postseason. I can't remember the last
05:25team I saw that had that big of an advantage on the turnovers in just the postseason. And if you
05:30go back, if you go all the way back to the bye week, you know, when things were really sort of
05:34on the edge with this team, and nobody kind of knew where the season was going. At that point,
05:38at the bye week, they were minus, I think, minus six as a team. And since then, they're plus 27.
05:44So, I think that'll, I mean, there are a lot of reasons, and there are a lot of things you
05:48can point to about how this team turned it around, and the various aspects of this team that
05:53turned it around. And you can point to Barkley, of course, that's where most people start,
05:56and the defense is number one, that's true. But I mean, the giveaway takeaway is just huge. I
06:01mean, they're taking the ball away at an amazing rate, and the quarterback's protecting it better
06:06than anybody. So, that's the formula, and now they just got to do it for one more game.
06:10Some, Oren Burks, once again, you know, went out there and made plays. I did not expect that
06:18there would be such a legitimate, like, across the board, whoever goes down, the next guy up
06:25really is equally, you know, as competitive. Once again, Howie Roseman, Ray, can you speak to the
06:35job that he did this year? It might be the best job he's ever done, and it's not that close.
06:42Yeah, I mean, when you factor in all the aspects of roster building with the draft, and then
06:50the free agents that he brought in, and then the other thing nobody really talks about,
06:55but is really important in the overall scheme of things, is the extending of contracts. You know,
07:00extending contracts with existing players who are young, and you really have a future,
07:04and you want to lock them up. And you're not stomping on everyone's toes. You know, the way
07:10that Howie accomplishes these contracts and re-ups people, just think about how vastly different it
07:16is from a place like Dallas, where it's always consternation, and whoa, they're mistreating their
07:22guys. Here, it feels like everything gets done, and guys like it. You know, Devontae Smith gets
07:29the big deal. AJ also has the big deal, and they're good with it. He somehow finesses these
07:36relationships to keep everyone happy while assembling the most powerful group of guys ever
07:43seen. Yeah, I mean, there's no doubt. I don't think anybody would argue the fact that this is
07:49the best roster in the NFL, the best top to bottom. I mean, they're that good, and Howie's the guy that
07:55built it. I mean, that's for sure. And to your point about Burks, you know, I don't think anybody
07:59in town knew who he was, even up until like a month ago. I mean, he was just sort of a role
08:04player. But now, you know, you lose the Kobe Dean, and now you got to replace him, and it's a pretty
08:12big spot. And he both goes in there and plays really well. I remember Seth Joyner telling me
08:17one time about the psychology of teams, and especially the psychology of winning teams.
08:22And Seth said something. He said, you know, sometimes when a player goes down, a star player,
08:27a really good player goes down, and you know you lost him. And now the backup, you know,
08:31your next man up, he has to step up and play. He says what will happen very often is that that guy
08:36will play way over his head because he doesn't want to let everybody else down. The feeling,
08:41you know, when you step in, you understand the responsibility, you understand who you're
08:44replacing, and you understand the basic framework of the defense. And a guy who's just kind of a
08:51player, just kind of an okay guy, will play like way over his head because he doesn't want to let
08:56down the other guys on the team. He said, I've seen that over and over and over again. And I
09:01think you're seeing it with Burks right now. He's playing really good football.
09:03Ray Denninger with us as he is every Monday at this time. Ray, let's talk about Sirianni.
09:08Curious your perspective. You can kind of paint the picture of the story of Nick. Now,
09:12I know that story's not over. Long ways still to go in his career. But I am struck by the
09:17last two coaches in Philly sports to win it all were punching bags at various points in their
09:22career. And that was Doug and that was Charlie. And Sirianni might be about to make a three-for-three
09:28in that regard. I marvel at his ability to blend new school concepts like going forward on fourth
09:36down and connectivity and that stuff with old school principles like toughness, fighting through
09:42adversity, attention to detail and accountability. Can you speak to the Sirianni story?
09:47I think you did a pretty good job of it right there. When I look at him, that's kind of what
09:53I see. I mean, over the course of this year, he's made some decisions and done some things
09:58that had me shaking my head. I think a lot of people have felt that way. But the one thing
10:04that you cannot deny, and this is where winning coaching really begins, is do the players believe
10:13in him? I mean, it's not what you are drawing up on the blackboard. It's not what you're saying
10:18in front of the meeting room, really. I mean, if the players don't believe what you're saying,
10:24if the players don't believe the game plan you're giving them, then it doesn't matter
10:28whether it's good, bad, or indifferent. It's not going to work. It has to start with them
10:32believing that this guy knows what he's doing. He's going to give us a game plan that we can
10:36go out and win with. He understands what we're good at. He also understands what we're not good
10:41at. And our game plan is going to be such that we're going to be, no matter who we're going up
10:47against, we're going to be, he's going to have us prepared to go out and beat that football team.
10:50It really has to start with just that belief in the players that this guy knows, this guy has the
10:58map. He has the plan that can get the best out of us and take us where we want to go. And that
11:06Nick has that. At the end of last year, it was fair to question it. At the end of last year,
11:12when you saw the way this team just completely bottomed out at the end of last year, and then
11:17went down to Tampa and basically had a no-show in a playoff game in Tampa, there was very real
11:23reason to wonder if there was now an irreparable disconnect between him and the players. Because
11:27on the outside looking in, it certainly looked that way. It absolutely did. He told us that he
11:33was struggling. He told us, hey, if I had answers, I would have executed those. That was a major
11:40problem for me at the time. Yeah, and I think that when you really look back on it, the change
11:46of the coordinators was just so huge. I mean, you went from the offensive and defensive staff of
11:51last year, which had major problems, and Sirianni was sort of the guy that was left standing there.
11:57But what about that, Ray? What about the fact... You replaced those guys with more,
12:02and Fangio, that have been really good. I mean, really, really good in that area.
12:08That kind of thinking, that's an immense help to the head coach, because he's got two guys there
12:13that he can really lean on. And I have faith that Vic Fangio,
12:17I love the idea that he'll be back. I don't know that Kelman Moore will be back. What about that?
12:22Well, not getting Dallas is probably... He's got a second interview with the Saints
12:26in person this week. Yeah.
12:27What about that, Ray? The fact that that is problematic. This probably will be another
12:34offense next year for everyone to learn. That is a major... That's what holds me back most about Nick.
12:43Well, yeah. Well, I mean, the spot that I thought he was most likely to wind up was
12:49Dallas. And now that Dallas has filled that chair...
12:53So that could be great for us.
12:55It greatly increases the chances that Kelman Moore will be back. And I hope that he is,
12:59because I would not want to see them have to start over again with a new offensive coordinator.
13:04Likewise.
13:04There's only the one spot open, and that's New Orleans. And that's just a mess. I mean,
13:09I don't... I know Kelman Moore wants to be a head coach. I think he deserves that opportunity.
13:14But I don't know who would take that job. I mean, it's a bad team.
13:19They're in salary cap, complete disarray. You step in there, I don't know how it goes straight,
13:24get that house in order. I don't think it's a particularly desirable job.
13:27You know, if I'm Kelman Moore, I'll just say, you know what, I'll take a pass on this one,
13:31and I'll wait for something better in a year from now. Because the Eagles aren't going away.
13:35I mean, the Eagles are going to be there for a while, and I think there's every reason to believe
13:38that Kelman Moore will still be a hot property a year from now with maybe better opportunities.
13:43So I think the likelihood, if you ask me right now, the likelihood,
13:46I think he's going to be back here next year. And that will help everybody.
13:50Ray, let's talk about Super Bowl 59. So 52 certainly had a better ring than 15 and
13:5657. What are your early thoughts on Eagles' Chiefs' Super Bowl 59?
14:04It's a script. It's like a movie script. It's like a playwright's dream. I mean,
14:11you've got the Eagles, the team with Saquon Barkley, who's been
14:20whatever else you want to say, he's been one of the biggest stars in football this year. He's one
14:24of the biggest stories in football this year. You know, a guy that left a bad situation and found
14:31turned down more money in other places. I don't know if people realize that. I mean, there were
14:36at least three other teams that offered him more money than the Eagles, but he chose the better
14:41opportunity over the contract. And because this was where he wanted to go, because this was where
14:46he felt he had the best opportunity to achieve success. So I mean, that's a big story in and of
14:51itself. And on the other side, you've got the Kansas City Chiefs, who have all the star power
14:57and are going for something that is unprecedented in the Super Bowl era, which is three in a row.
15:03And then you got on top of that, you've got they're being coached by the coach who took
15:08the Eagles to the Super Bowl before. So I mean, there's a million different angles to this. And
15:12a lot of young stars that are really coming on. I mean, you've seen, you know, Jalen Carter has
15:16now become sort of a marquee name. I mean, you watch the games now and you see how much they
15:21isolate on him and how much they talk about him. I mean, he's become, I mean, talked about as maybe
15:28the best young defensive lineman in the NFL. So it's from, you know, if you were like casting a
15:37movie, this would be a perfect one. Because you've just got that Philadelphia fan base. And
15:44you know, you can just imagine, because I've been, I was at Super Bowl XV. I saw what the
15:49Philadelphia fans, what the Philadelphia fans were like on Bourbon Street. Take that Philadelphia fan,
15:55take that Philadelphia fan base, that Philadelphia fan passion, and you put it down at Bourbon
15:59Street Super Bowl week. That's a story in itself. I love it. All right, Ray, final thing. I'm curious
16:04in that vast brain of yours, if you have contemplated yet this possibility, if Mo Holmes
16:11gets hurt during the game, the Eagles will be facing Carson Wentz in the Super Bowl.
16:19I thought about that. It's unbelievable. I thought about that. And you know, the way this
16:24thing is playing out, you almost expect it. You know, I mean, there's so many aspects about this
16:31game. There's so many, you know, as journalists, we talk about angles on games, you know, the angles
16:35in games. And there's a million of them here. And that's one I actually did think about. I mean,
16:40how incredibly ironic would this be if something happened to Mo Holmes? It's not that I'm wishing
16:45it, but if it did, that Mo Holmes went down and Carson Wentz come in and to play quarterback
16:52for the Chiefs against the Eagles. And he's now trying to achieve the history that Patrick
16:56Mo Holmes was trying to achieve. And he'll be the backup that comes in and wins it for the team,
17:01like Nick did for, you know, anyway. Oh yeah, I mean, it's wild. It's the Nick Foles scenario
17:07all over again. Wild. Yeah, so Carson Wentz is Carson Wentz. Yeah, and he's not going to win
17:11the game. Great. Hey, Ray, we'll talk to you a lot, obviously, in the lead-up to the Super Bowl.
17:17Thanks so much, my man, for being here.