Steele takes Bama gives the points

"Despite the fact that Alabama gave up 600 yards last week to Auburn, I still think they're the most complete team in football. They've got the running game. They've got Yeldon and Henry. And then of course, passing, they've got Amari Cooper to throw the ball to. If you end up bringing in a safety to stop Yeldon and Henry, Amari Cooper is going to have a big game, much like he did last week with 230 yards. The best way to attack Missouri is with a power run game. I brought that up last week when I talked about Arkansas. Arkansas had good success running the ball when they were building that 14-3 lead in the first half. The surprising number to me, much like what Arkansas did to Auburn in week one, for some reason in the second half, they decided pass the ball a little bit more and ended up with 30 passes and 30 rushes last week. Well that's not the best way to beat Missouri. The best way is to run the ball at a pass rushing defensive end, you neutralize his effectiveness and generally pass rushing defensive ends aren't as good at defending the run. Then if you can get them to bring that other safety in the box to stop the run, all of a sudden Amari Cooper has 1-on-1 coverage and you've got yourself seven points in the end zone."On the other side of the coin, Missouri hasn't played the toughest schedule in the country. Let's face it. They haven't beaten a ranked team all year. You look at the record of the opponents they've vanquished this season and it's not very good. Alabama's played a much tougher schedule and their defense is going to be able to come out here- especially after last week's embarrassment- I can't imagine Kirby Smart lets them have a down week. Auburn's got dynamic athletes at quarterback, at running back, they've got two very dynamic wide receivers. I don't see the same level of athleticism with Missouri. So I think they're going to have a better chance of slowing down the Missouri offense. Alabama's been to big games and knows they need just one game to get into the national championship and I think they'll have a pretty good (fan) following as well. And Missouri was in this game last year, but Missouri did get crushed by Auburn."The case for Missouri."I like the way Missouri's offense has been playing as of later. Early in the year, these guys were struggling. They took on two top 25 defenses prior to last week and they had 147 yards and 129 in those two games. Now recently, in the last two games, they started to get their receivers back in Sasser and Hunt. We've seenMaty Mauk become a better quarterback with his receivers. In fact, Missouri is averaging about 450 yards the last three games, that's pretty good and is sort of unexpected. Russell Hansbrough, the running back from Missiouri is getting a lot of tough yardage, averaging 5.4 yards per carry and the biggest improvement has been at quarterback with Maty Mauk."Now defensively, these guys will get after you. They've got one of the best defensive lines in the entire country and maybe the best pass rushing defensive line in the country. They don't need to blitz. They can just line their defensive ends up and get after you. They've got 40 sacks on the year and are also fairly tough against the run. They're only giving up 3.4 yards per carry. This is a Missouri team that had their 34-0 loss to Georgia and didn't look good. Even the game against Florida- they won that game 42-13, they were out gained by 120 yards in the game. That was not a pretty victory. But in their last three games- it was a very impressive fourth quarter against Arkansas. They trailed 14-6 and managed to rally and tie it with a two-point conversion and go ahead in that game. And really, their defense played well in the second half against Arkansas. I think it's a dangerous Missouri team and one that every week, everyone picks against Missouri, including myself, and every week Missiouri ends up winning the football game. They're just a team that is under the radar- much like they were last year heading into the SEC title game."His pick for the game (line Alabama -14.5)."It's tough, because the number is pretty high for the way Missouri has been playing the last three games. I think a lot of folks still (think of) that Georgia game where Georgia flat out dominated them 34-0. And this is a different Missouri offense, but I have to side with Alabama. I liked Alabama last week against Auburn and I know they won the game 55-44, but Auburn got a touchdown with 20 seconds left to close it in. Alabama, once they got down at the start of the 3rd quarter, just took over. They're the most complete team, they can run, they can pass- they're one of the best offenses in the country. Despite last week, they're one of the best defenses in the country, they're solid on special teams, they've got championship pedigree and I'm going to lay the points and take the Tide to win this one- 34-16, so that's an 18-point win."