Alabama in the NFL: Week 10

Alabama’s only Heisman trophy winner, Mark Ingram, runs away from the Oakland Raider defense. AP photo.

The New Orleans Saints traveled to meet the Oakland Raiders in a game full of former Alabama standouts.

Running back Mark Ingram came off of one of the best games of his career against the Atlanta Falcons with an even better game in the 38-17 win over the Raiders. Ingram ran for 67 yards, the same number as last week, but took only 12 carries to do it as opposed to 16 last week. Ingram also scored a touchdown.

Defensively for the Saints, Roman Harper accounted for 11 tackles, nine of the solo, while also deflecting a pass and intercepting another. On the other side, Rolando McClain accounted for 10 tackles and was playing with a free spirit after gun charges against him in his hometown of Decatur, Ala., were dropped.

Wideout Julio Jones was targeted seven times for three catches and 33 yards in Atlanta’s 23-19 win over the Arizona Cardinals. For the Cardinals, Rashad Johnson picked off a Matt Ryan pass on the first play from scrimmage.

Trent Richardson carries the ball for the Browns. AP photo.

For the Cleveland Browns, Trent Richardson carried the ball 28 times for 95 yards in a overtime loss to the Dallas Cowboys, 23-20.

Marcell Dareus notched four tackles for the Bills on Thursday night as the Bills beat the Dolphins 19-14. Dareus also offered a pass deflection to go along with four tackles, two of them solo efforts.

Defensive tackle Terrence Cody and rookie linebacker Courtney Upshaw combined to make three tackles in a 13-10 win for the Baltimore Ravens over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Upshaw is now up to 39 tackles in his rookie season, 24 of them solo.

Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Javier Arenas returned three punts for 30 yards and made three tackles in Kansas City’s 28-6 loss to the Bengals.

Rookie safety for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Mark Barron continued his streak, now having started in all 10 games of his rookie season. The Bucs beat the Panthers 27-21 in overtime.

Mark Anderson brings down a Philadelphia Eagle in the 2011 season. AP photo.

On the injury front, Mark Anderson, defensive end for the Buffalo Bills, had another knee operation and is expected to miss a few more weeks, but could be back by the end of the regular season.

Other performances

Brandon Deaderick notched two tackles in New England’s 59-24 win over the Colts. Also for the Patriots, Dont’a Hightower accumulated two tackles.

Wallace Gilberry had three tackles in the Bengals’ 28-6 win over the Chiefs.

Le’Ron McClain did not carry the ball for the San Diego Chargers in their 30-23 loss to the Broncos, but does stand at 11 carries for 38 yards and two first downs in the season.

BrettAtBama Recap: BCS National Championship

If I may break away from an objective viewpoint for just a second, I must say I am glad Alabama was able to beat LSU last night, because I did not want to write a Recap shoving the loss in all of your faces. So, let’s go through and showcase some great performances.

It’s tough to not mention the game’s offensive and defensive MVPs, AJ McCarron and Courtney Upshaw. It was said by analysts on all mediums that the quarterback that performed better in this game would win his team the championship. McCarron definitely got the best of that battle, throwing 34 times for 23 completions and 234 yards. Upshaw was everywhere against the Tigers, with 5 solo tackles and a sack while playing a big part in stopping LSU’s downhill running game and short passing game.

My honorable mentions in this department are Trent Richardson and Kevin Norwood on offense and Jerrell Harris on defense. Richardson is the obvious choice, scoring the only touchdown in the 120+ minutes of football these two teams played against each other. Harris showed the mental discipline that comes with being a senior in this game, defending the speed option perfectly when it was attempted. In some cases, Harris forced Jefferson to pitch to the running back, then got off of a block and assisted on the tackle of the running back.

Norwood gets my nod because he was key in the Crimson Tide’s aerial attack gameplan. Against a defensive secondary as great as LSU’s is, the best bet is to get their corners in a one-on-one situation on the outside, away from the rest of the defense inside the hashmarks. Norwood did exactly that, making timely catches on the sidelines where incomplete passes would have killed the Tide’s passing game completely. For coming up on the big stage by doing exactly what his coaches trained him to do since the Iron Bowl in preparation for this game, Norwood gets my tap on the shoulder as an honorable mention for player of the game.

One more analytical note on the game: you fans can thank the 2010 Iron Bowl for such a dominant defensive performance. If you remember, Alabama shut down the Tigers in the first half of that game, then decided to drop back and become conservative, allowing Auburn to make the shocking comeback. Clearly, Nick Saban, Kirby Smart and the rest of the staff learned from that mistake, keeping the defensive pressure on LSU all night long, making sure that LSU was only able to cross the 50-yard-line on a severely fatigued defense.

All around, this was one of the most dominant national championship games in recent history. One would have to look to Urban Meyer’s Florida teams or even further back to the 1992 thrashing Miami received from Alabama to see something so one-sided. Enjoy No. 14, Crimson Tide faithful.

As much as I hate to say it, this concludes football coverage for the 2012 season from BrettAtBama. Now, all of my football related focus will switch to recruiting.

BrettAtBama Recap: Iron Bowl

I can’t decide if it was Leave No Doubt or Never Again. Whatever inspired this team to do that to their rivals, the Auburn Tigers, I think the Alabama faithful are enjoying it.

In the Breakdown, I made it clear that I felt like Alabama had to be physical on offense in order to win this game. In the first half, AJ McCarron certainly proved me wrong. The coaching staff felt confident in the mismatch they had when it came to their wide receiving corps and tight ends versus Auburn’s secondary. McCarron exploited this well in the first half on his way to three first half passing touchdowns, one on a fleaflicker to Kenny Bell, and 184 yards for the game.

Brad Smelley was big for the Tide today, catching six passes for 86 yards and a touchdown. Stat of the Day in the passing game: McCarron’s completion percentage, at 78.2%. That’s an astronomically high number for someone who caught so much heat coming in, being a well-known gunslinger type.

The second half, however, was exactly that physical style of play I thought Alabama was going to bring. Trent Richardson had 61 yards rushing in the first half, which was more than Auburn had given up in the first half of the previous two Iron Bowls, but was not exactly what Alabama fans that wanted Richardson to make a Heisman statement against Auburn were hoping for. Then Richardson turned it on in the second half, exploding to his final tally of 203, literally throwing Auburn defenders to the ground in the process.

Defensively, it was a great shut-down effort by the Tide D. The Tigers offense didn’t score at all in this game, 7 of those points coming from a pick-up 6 and the other 7 from a kickoff return. In the Breakdown, I stressed the ability of the Alabama defense being able to keep up with the offensive pace and stop the passing attack. For whatever reason, Auburn defensive coordinator decided to slow it down against a bigger defense. Not his smartest decision.

Why, you ask? Well, maybe it was the fact that Clint Mosley was held to 62 passing yards. Maybe it was the fact that Alabama’s third string running back, Jalston Fowler’s one carry of the day was longer than any attempt by Auburn ball carriers. Or maybe it was the fact that Auburn’s top two receivers combined to have less yards than Bell, who had only two catches all game long.

Coming into the game, the names that were supposed  to cause the Crimson Tide defense trouble were Onterio McCalebb, Michael Dyer, Kiehl Frazier and Phillip Lutzenkirchen. They combined to have 182 yards, less than what Richardson got by himself. Embarrassing.

But, on that topic, what about this win wasn’t embarrassing for the Tigers? (Patiently awaiting an answer). Seriously, if you can answer that question intelligently, shoot me an email. I want to know.

Now Alabama fans just have to sit and wait. The general consensus is that Alabama’s bowl game will be in New Orleans. Will it be the Sugar Bowl or the BCS National Championship Game? Only time will tell.

BrettAtBama Breakdown: Iron Bowl

Hello, Readers! As kick-off inches towards us, the anticipation in this state goes up at the same rate productivity goes down. As the state grinds towards its well-publicized stand-still for the Iron Bowl, let’s go over what’s going to be important in this game.

On offense for the Crimson Tide, there is no hiding the fact that Auburn’s defense is downright terrible, and especially at stopping a physical running attack. Auburn defensive coordinator Ted Roof, meet Trent Richardson. Mr. Richardson, if you want that Heisman trophy, this is the game to earn it in. The better Richardson plays, the higher Alabama’s win percentage is. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.

On defense, there are two things Alabama needs to worry about. One is trick plays. When Auburn was in spoiler mode against Alabama in 2009, trick plays were the basis of Auburn’s quick 14-0 lead. That can’t happen against this year’s team.

The second is that hurry-up offense combining with the deep ball. Watching Auburn all year long, I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have seen an Auburn wide out go up and catch a deep ball with the coverage right there simply because the defense is tired from the break-neck pace of Auburn’s offense. The biggest question there is, will Dre Kirkpatrick or DeQuan Menzie be able to keep up with the offense and make plays on the ball? An even better question is, will Mark Barron and Robert Lester provide the deep help to prevent the ball from even being attempted?

Contemplate this things and watch for them in the game. Physicality on Alabama’s offense and fatigue combined with deep coverage on the defensive side will probably decide this game.

Also, there will be a delay in the BrettAtBama Recap, due to some travel complications that are unavoidable. I apologize in advance for this, but to make up for it I will put in more analysis on the game. Have fun everybody.

BrettAtBama Photo Gallery: November 22nd, 2011

Storms in Tuscaloosa today produced a tornado watch, which was enough for Saban to move practice to the indoor facility.

 

 

 

 

Trent Richardson, to the top and to the right, putting in work in the individual drills today in practice.

 

 

 

Cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick (21) and punter Cody Mandell (29) in their normal practice routines.

I’ll finish this one off with a snapshot of starting QB AJ McCarron in his QB drills today.

BrettAtBama Breakdown: Georgia Southern

It’s Senior Day this Saturday in the Crimson Tide’s last home game of the season against the Georgia Southern Eagles. Let’s break down some Xs and Os in this week’s Breakdown.

On offense for the Tide, I don’t think there is much one can do to hide the fact that Alabama is bigger, faster and stronger than Georgia Southern. With that being abundantly clear, Alabama simply needs to play like it. Dominate the line of scrimmage, punish the Eagle defense in the downhill running game with Trent Richardson and have your playmakers like Marquis Maze get the ball in space and do what they do best.

Defensively, I already featured the triple option offense Georgia Southern will run in my CW article posted earlier this week. That battle will come down to the linebackers and how their mindset changes to defending an offense that is so unique. The box score at the end of the game for the linebackers will be very telling of the final score, in my opinion.

All in all, Alabama is very prepared for this game and should be able to pull out the expected blowout win. Enjoy the game.

BrettAtBama Recap: Mississippi State

Going to the land of cowbell and getting a win is no easy task, no matter how good or bad the team may be at that stage in the program.

Looking into the game itself, props must be given to Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy for their performances tonight. Richardson continued his incredible season with 127 yards on 32 carries and a touchdown. Lacy had two touchdowns in the process of gaining 96 yards and showing many viewers that his foot injury is a thing of the past.

Outside of those two, the offense was seriously struggling this week just like it did last week. Now, last week’s performance can be chalked up to playing against one of the nation’s top three defenses, but the same cannot be said for Mississippi State. Surely there are some things that the Tide will look to improve on before Georgia Southern, including converting on big play opportunities that were missed via overthrows and other errors.

The defense, however, was solid. Mississippi State’s throwing quarterback, Tyler Russell, had only 110 yards in the air. Alabama’s physical nature wreaked havoc on the Bulldog offense, including injuring starting quarterback Chris Relf. Another quick round of applause should be given to Alabama’s running defense, holding the Bulldogs to a total 12 rushing yards.

Things to improve on: I hate to be that guy, still talking about this, but for me, it’s the kicking game. This unit didn’t have as much of a profound effect on this game as the last one (mostly because they weren’t put into that position like they were last week), but the performance needs to improve, because if that situation were to rise against against Auburn or in the postseason, the confidence to perform well might not be there.

As usual, there will be a full week of coverage right here starting on Monday leading up to the game with Georgia Southern.

BrettAtBama Recap: Third Saturday In October

As I was walking out of Bryant-Denny Stadium, I couldn’t help but notice the smell of many victory cigars filling up the stadium and the surrounding area as the Tide was running the clock to end its 37-6 win over hated rival Tennessee. Now, let’s talk about this week’s game in the Recap.

Now, I don’t want to hurt any feelings, but I have to say that tonight’s first half was one of the worst of the season, if not the worst. AJ McCarron’s first interception was a terribly throw pass, no way around it, and the offensive line was absent in run blocking for the longest time. Going into halftime at a 6-6 deadlock brought about some unpleasant memories of the 2009 version of this rivalry amongst the UA students in attendance.

The second half, however, is exactly what the fans showed up to watch. In the carnage that happened in the last thirty minutes of this game, we learned that McCarron is in fact good enough to win a game for Alabama if necessary. Sure, he did hold on to the ball for too long. Several times. But, he almost always found somewhere to go with the ball instead of taking the sack like the 2010 team struggled so mightly with.

McCarron dominated the first two drives of the second half, hitting Marquis Maze with a deep ball early in the first drive and finishing it off on his feet with the rushing touchdown, then throwing a touchdown strike to Kenny Bell on the next possession on his way to a 17-for-26, 284 yard night.

The defense was very impressive in the second half as well. AN interception from Don’t’a Hightower and a fumble recovery from Vinnie Sunseri were some of the bigger plays, but overall the defense was just as physical and violent as always, something that’s going to be very useful in the TTown Throwdown (that’s what I’m calling it) against LSU on Nov. 5th.

Player of the Game”: This has to go to McCarron, who played good in the first half after the interception and was great throughout the second half. Having a night like that going into the bye week will help a lot.

Be ready for another week of Alabama football coverage coming up, with the bye week before LSU.

BrettAtBama Breakdown: Third Saturday in October

The time has finally come for Alabama’s first big rivalry game, this time hosting Tennessee in the Third Saturday in October.

Let’s start on the defensive side of the football. Tennessee is without starting quarterback Tyler Bray thanks to a broken thumb. His replacement, Matt Simms, is nothing to scoff at, but he is not as prolific in some areas as Bray, and making him uncomfortable will be a big part of this game. But, I think the Tide should focus more on stopping Tennessee’s running back Tauren Poole. Poole can be a steady threat if he goes unchecked. Poole is a substantially bigger threat than Simms is, and if the Tide keeps Poole in check, the Tide could easily hold the Vols to single digits.

On the offensive side of the ball, I would watch the offensive line. Although Tennessee is not the primetime program they used to be, they still get good front seven talent in recruiting and if the offensive line can keep them suppressed like they did against Ole Miss, Alabama will be able to let Trent Richardson and Jalston Fowler run away with this one, and hit Marquis Maze, Darius Hanks and DeAndrew White and company when the Vols commit to the run too heavily.

While on the topic of wide receivers, the Tuscaloosa News singled out White as a key player, and I agree with them. White is beginning to hit his stride in the McElwain offense. He had some growing pains earlier in the season, being a true freshman, but it looks like he has worked out the kinks and is ready to separate himself as one of the top three receivers on the team.

With the keys to this game laid out for you, enjoy your Gameday, and don’t forget to check back after the nightcap game tonight for the BrettAtBama Recap.

BrettAtBama Recap: Ole Miss

Well, well, well. What a game for the Alabama faithful, as the Crimson Tide goes to Oxford and beats Ole Miss by a convincing score of 52-7. Here are some of my thoughts on the game and things you should take away from this week’s game in the BrettAtBama Recap.

I felt like Alabama was dominant, to say the least, in the running game. Let’s put it this way. The third-string running back, Jalston Fowler, had 125 rushing yards and two touchdowns…on only nine carries. Not to mention that Trent Richardson likely put himself on the Heisman radar with his four rushing touchdowns off of 18 rushing yards.

But, I also think AJ McCarron has exceeded many expectations all season long, but especially in this game. McCarron’s 19-for-24, 224 yard and one touchdown performance was very methodical and precise, exactly what the fanbase hopes to get from its quarterback.

Defensively, I felt like the defense was a little flat, just like the offense was last week for a while. In the end, Alabama righted the ship and began to play the shutdown defense we have seen all year long.

Overall, I think the Tide fanbase needs to be very confident in the offensive line. They have been downright dominant recently and in the SEC, games can be won and lost in the trenches. Alabama has certainly been winning them in the trenches.

Looking forward, Alabama hosts hated rival Tennessee before taking a bye week in preparation for the super hyped game on Nov. 5th against LSU.