1. So what’s the deal with Alabama? They’ve been so dominant, and for so long, that when they get off to a start like they have this season, it’s almost disconcerting. I watched their game against Ole Miss on Saturday and spent most of the day just shaking my head at QB Jalen Milroe, who kept making questionable and/or underwhelming decisions. Alabama made enough plays defensively to keep themselves in the game, and I guess overall you should applaud the Tide for the effort they showed. But it got me thinking about the last time an Alabama under Saban team was as meh as this group, and I think it was probably over a decade ago, when the 2010 Tide finished 11-3 (and that group had Julio Jones and Mark Ingram!). This year’s Alabama team might have to play a similar conservative style to give themselves a chance.
So, as I asked before, what’s the deal with Alabama? Well, I think it’s partly just a slow start and a lack of leadership, but I also wonder if Alabama is just a microcosm of the SEC at large, where a wide-open transfer portal has allowed players who weren’t getting playing time to leave and look for opportunity elsewhere. All of a sudden, all these “stacked” SEC teams featuring depth up and down the lines are having to play with flattened rosters, like everyone else has had the last few years.
Anyway, I don’t think Nick Saban is done at Alabama, but the days of Bama having a dynamic quarterback who’s allowed to freelance and make plays might be over, at least for the time being.
2. Let’s give some love this week to Missouri, who are coming off back-to-back wins over K-State and Memphis, and riding high with a 4-0 record. I didn’t know what to expect from them this season, other than knowing they were returning a bunch of players and that Coach Eli Drinkwitz was entering his third season, presumably giving them some measure of continuity, a luxury few teams and coaches in the SEC have been afforded of late.
And the Tigers have looked good this season! QB Brady Cook got booed a few weeks ago but he’s been solid, despite battling a bum knee, and WR Luther Burden III is living up to all the hype that surrounded him coming out of high school a few years ago. Missouri was rewarded for all this by hopping up into the Top 25 this week, for the first time since 2019.
Missouri plays at Vanderbilt this week, and then hosts LSU in two weeks for what should be a great one.
3. We are probably deep enough into the NFL season to start coming to some real conclusions. What if we divide all the teams into four tiers for a lazy power ranking:
PERHAPS GREAT: Chiefs, Dolphins, Bills, Eagles, Cowboys, 49ers
NOT TERRIBLE: Commanders, Seahawks, Raiders, Chargers, Steelers, Ravens, Browns, Colts, Jaguars, Falcons, Saints, Bucs, Packers, Lions
NOT GREAT: Vikings, Rams, Cardinals, Titans, Patriots, Jets, Texans, Bengals, Giants
TERRIBLE: Panthers, Bears, Broncos
We’ll circle back in a few weeks for an updated lazy power ranking.