Defensive line play.

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It has been my understanding that Strong's defensive philosophy has been one gap penetration from the D-line. Are we starting to see the results of Strong's philosophy in our schemes?

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Despite the lack of sacks, supposedly we are generating good pressure in the backfield. Tied for 1st in the SEC in total pressures per Aaron Suttles article on The Athletic. They also go on to say that sacks are not the “end all be all” of good d-line play

Overall I’m optimistic that Bama has put together at least a very good half of defense in every game except Ole Miss. Bunch of young guys plus Moses could easily improve and Lebryan Ray could return and provide help

Well, Tn kept running the ball on 3rd and 5 or 6.
We wont see that if we play Clemson or Ohio st. Tn was very conservative with their play calling.

Anyone hear Chris Lowe on Finebum today. He interviewed Saban a few days ago. Saban told Lowe that offenses have exceeded defenses in today's game. Lowe told Saban he couldnt believe he was saying that. Saban said, "I didnt say I like it." But, its just something we have to get used to.

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Anyone hear Chris Lowe on Finebum today. He interviewed Saban a few days ago. Saban told Lowe that offenses have exceeded defenses in today's game. Lowe told Saban he couldnt believe he was saying that. Saban said, "I didnt say I like it." But, its just something we have to get used to.

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He had previously talked about the defense just getting stops and it's not about stats with this team. So, actually, coach Saban has been consistent with his defensive message.

I really was curious about The barners and Ole Miss Saturday. Kevin Steele came out in a 3-2-6 but looked like he was playing a lot of man to a man in it. And immediately Kiffin committed to the run for the game. Which meant they held Ole Miss to about half their passing production per game. Must have watched the Bama tape. The barn took their medicine all day by giving up over 250 yards on the ground but they were trading off all those explosive plays Kiffin dials up through the air. The rebels had about 450 yards for the game. But only 2 explosive players through the air and ended up with only 28 points. Keep in mind the barn's defense was gutted with graduation and COVID loss. All DBs were new and they already had lost one of their starting corners for the season.

I think this is another example of a new-age defense that should have all of us lowering our defensive expectations. Given the barn's personnel issues and Kiffin's scheming ways, I thought Kevin Steele's creativity had a great day.

Go check out Ben Litvin on Twitter and see his thoughts on the Def.

“ Yup. Plus the defensive front was excellent and (most importantly, as it relates to Golding) the back end of the defense was consistently positioned to make plays. Sometimes they lost individual matchups (to better players) and sometimes they got beat by high level pass concepts.”

“Here’s what I think people don’t get about the defense. Let’s say the worst case scenario comes to pass and, by playoff time, the defense hasn’t improved. Even in that scenario, their odds of beating either Clemson or OSU are no worse than ~40%.”

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Moses, Harris, Wright , and Battle have struggled But other than that Everyone else on the defense has been pretty good IMo

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I think Moses and Harris have been pretty good since 2nd half of Georgia. Wright and Battle just have to be more consistent and I believe with more reps they can get there.

let me be clear about one thing. Saban did not say its something we have to get used to. His replay to Lowe was "I didnt say I like it" I added that last part.

Clearly, the defensive play has improved some, and it should continue to improve. Saban said this week the safeties have improved some, but need to be more consistent. and he said usually when we give up a big play, a safety is a part in the defensive problem.

You’re right. Wright has caught some flak from me this year, but never for his pass coverage - it’s the weak tackle attempts I see, and he is NOT the only one.

Moses has played better since the UGA game, but Harris is still super inconsistent. He will lay the wood one play, and then completely whiff on the next. It’s crazy how bad we are at tackling: from the angles we take, to breaking down, to actual tackling form. We need someone to come in and teach these kids how to properly tackle.

After the TN game he talked about how we could not stop the Tn running game with 3 (he could have said 4) linemen, so we had to put another D lineman in to stop their run. But, that makes it more difficult on the safeties. CNS said in the second half we did a better job.

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After the TN game he talked about how we could not stop the Tn running game with 3 (he could have said 4) linemen, so we had to put another D lineman in to stop their run. But, that makes it more difficult on the safeties. CNS said in the second half we did a better job.

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I thought Tennessee did a good job of running with their 3 wide receiver look. But frankly, most of the time I saw Alabama trying to run their nickel package between the 20s. They were in a 4-2 look most of the time. I personally would have liked to see both Allen and Anderson on the front a whole lot more between the 20s. Guarantano has a history of not knowing his name when he panics. And the pressure will do that. When the vols got in the red zone we got caught with our pants down at least once trying to sub an extra lineman on the field. But getting more beef on the field is the smart thing to do every time on that end of the field. Overall, I thought we were a lot more respectful of their WRs than the running game.