...is the same question that pundits, rival fans, and we ourselves have been asking ever since the season opener; is Alabama for real? After last night's domination of a solid SEC team on the road, yes, yes they are. But after watching our defense and special teams let the Dawgs back into the game in the second half (you can never let up on a team as good as Georgia no matter what the score looks like!), I also have to think we are as real as Florida or Southern Cal, i.e. we have the talent and we have the coaching, but do we have the will? I'm not trying to disparage our team right now, believe me. They put on a hell of a show last night, and John Parker Wilson is owed a big apology by just about every Alabama fan out there, ourselves included. The way he handled the Georgia defense was nothing short of spectacular and his downfield passing reached an entirely new level last night thanks to some tremendous blocking up front and great catches by his receivers. But the same consistency issues that have plagued the Crimson Tide for so many years now are still here, be it the sleep walk against Tulane or the second half loss of focus by the defense, and I can only hope that the team continues to improve each and every week like it has so far this season. When we are on, we are on, and I'd put us up against any team in the country but, as our unofficial theme song of the season asks each and every game day, "Are we ourselves?" I made the comment in last week's Crimson and White Roundtable that the only two teams that can keep Alabama from Atlanta this year are LSU and Alabama itself, and right now Alabama is the only one that concerns me. The only thing we have to worry about now is can we play the kind of dominating football we've come to expect from the 2008 Crimson Tide week in and week out no matter who the opponent or what the scoreboard says? Because if the answer is yes, then there is no stopping us. Roll Tide.
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