re: Cecil Hurt on what may be wrong with the defense this year

When we look bad in the 1st qtr...it doesnt matter how our offense is playing and what TOP is when we are looking bad.

interesting theory. im not sure i believe it to be true but it is plausible.

speaking of offense though...anyone know why they decided to run the two qb play now when it wasnt even needed? why not save that for a moment when we desperately need to convert a 3rd down in a big game?

You have to consider how Bama just blows away teams early in the game. The players just become uninterested.

It was 21-0 before Arkansas did anything thing on offense yesterday.

56-0 before ULL did anything last weekend.

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The players just become uninterested.

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Ain't none of that. Young and inexperienced players just missed assignments and are getting burned once in a while. New coaches are still learning the system same as the new players. Nothing teaches us so well as when we fail at a task at which we are entirely capable. We just have to be patient, and in the meantime, hopefully the 2 linebackers will heal up to help by December.

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Yea. I posted this Saturday and got flamed for it. Maybe they will listen now that Cecil said it.

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Cecil is well connected and often insightful, but he isn't exhibiting any critical thinking in this matter.

Teams have been able to move the ball from the very onset of the games - if there was any validity to his theory, the defensive performances would mirror those of 2016 & 2017 i.e. strong in the first part of the game, but gradually wearing down due to getting gassed.

It's not that complex - right now Alabama is very vulnerable to passes over the middle. That isn't due to being gassed, it is due to mental errors and inexperience by both the players and the coaches.

I just don't buy that when we are having the same problems in the 1st quarter.

Any determination on the defense has to be made in the context of
1) playing with 3-4 TD leads in the 2nd quarter.
2) the style of game you get with fast paced offenses

We're not going to be holding teams to < 10 ppg with the pace our offense is scoring. The other teams are getting a lot more possessions per game which affects the kind of #'s we'd expect. Hurt is also quite right to note we've lost a TON of talent over the last 3 seasons to the NFL and injury.

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I was gonna post this same theory in a thread last week.

The offense is scoring so quickly that the defense that used to rely on the a ball controlling offense is just on the field a lot more than past years and opposing teams are thus getting more opportunities to get yards and plays.

If my math is right, thru the 1st 5 games compared to last years first 5 games, teams are getting about 12 more plays a game this year.

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I said this the other day as none of our D's in the past had to be on the field as much and so quick due to the offense. We controlled the clock and our QBs managed the game. I doubt very seriously some of the big guys in the past would have done any better.

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I said this the other day as none of our D's in the past had to be on the field as much and so quick due to the offense. We controlled the clock and our QBs managed the game.

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When is the last time our offense and QBs managed the game against a good team? It certainly hasn't been the last two years as the 2016/2017 offenses were nothing but feast or famine.

To disprove Cecil's assertion, teams have had success moving the ball from the onset of games. If the "offense is too quick to score" theory had any merit, the defense would start off strong and then wilt. The Clemson loss is a prime example of this.

Instead, we are seeing the defense being moved on throughout the game.

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Fans seem to forget this that we play so much faster this year on offense.

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Is there evidence of this though? Alabama has been playing hurry up since Kiffin was the OC.

A 3-and-out may burn more game clock time than a 7 play scoring drive, but it's not going to give the defense more rest in actual time.

It was 58-17 with around 12 minutes to go in the 4th quarter. We good. I don't know what everyone is worried about (that is, those who are actually worried).

Are we as good as 2011, 2015 or 2016? No, we aren't, but we don't have to be. This defense, coupled with this offense, is plenty good to win a championship.

No one likes it when we miss a run fit or blow a coverage in the secondary, but that's really what we are talking about (mostly). Mental errors can be fixed. We are young and have talent, but the mental part of the game is the last thing to come, and I think it will.

Frankly, I kind of like us giving up 14 in garbage time making the game look closer than it actually was. It only gives Saban something to ride their butts about. Works for me.

Roll Tide.