"I feel like they are very aggressive on most first and second downs with the strong safety playing a big role in run support. But they also hedge their bets by dropping into Cover 1 or Cover 3 in an effort to take away the big play off play-action. Alabama, like other 3-4 teams, can walk an outside linebacker up to the line of scrimmage, effectively giving it a four-man front.

"Finally, they excel in underneath, matchup zone coverage, which is to say players don't just let receivers catch the ball in front of them and then make the tackle. They match up and track players when they enter the area of the field they are responsible for. This requires a great deal of discipline and communication to prevent breakdowns in the coverage.

"This is why Saban is so great at what he does in my opinion. It's not only his obvious football acumen. It's also his ability to communicate with his players and minimize human error on game day."