Former Tide star on Missouri: ‘I think Alabama puts it on them’
AJ McCarron made it clear this week what he thinks of Missouri’s chances against Alabama on Saturday.
“I think Alabama puts it on them,” the former Crimson Tide and NFL quarterback said during an appearance on the McCready and Siskey podcast.
Missouri (5-0,1-0) hasn’t beaten Alabama in football since 1975, nor have the Tigers won their first six games in a season since 2013, its second year in the SEC.
“I don’t think Missouri throws the ball that great with Beau Pribula,” McCarron said. “If you can stop Ahmad Hardy, I think they are super one-dimensional.”
Hardy is the SEC’s top rusher with 730 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground this season.
“I think Alabama focuses on the run, allows their secondary to just man up and play free,” McCarron said.
Alabama and Missouri each have one of the SEC’s top wide receivers, providing them with some game-breaking dynamism. For the Crimson Tide, that is Germie Bernard, who is averaging 15.7 yards on 25 catches with five TDs. For the Tigers, that is Kevin Coleman, who leads the conference with 39 receptions for 386 yards and a score.
“I think Alabama, from an offensive standpoint, is rolling right now,” McCarron added. If you can carry that offense that just played with this past weekend, I think Vandy’s a better team than Missouri.
“I just think Alabama matches up very well with them.”
Alabama features the SEC’s most prolific passer in Ty Simpson, who leads the league with 1,478 yards through the air to go with 13 touchdown passes and just one interception.
Just one stat shows the Broncos' defense has a major flaw to fix
The Denver Broncos have gone 2-2 across their first four games of the 2025 NFL Season, but they do have a major flaw on defense to fix. A troubling, consistent trend has plagued the Denver Broncos' defense through the first month of the season, and it's going to turn into a major concern if he cannot be remedied.
Denver has split their first four games for the second year in a row. Sean Payton, as you surely know by now, has ton about half of his career games as a head coach in September, so the Broncos are under or overperforming. They have been fine through the first month, but if Denver hopes to vault into contention at some point in the 2025 season, they have to begin playing more consistently on both sides of the ball.
Not only has the offense looked shaky at times, but even the defense has looked a bit rough. The defense did get back on track a bit in Week 4,
The Denver Broncos defense has allowed a score on every one of their opening drives so far
In every single opening defensive drive thus far, the Denver Broncos have allowed a score. Now, yes, it's been a field goal each time, but the defense has essentially gifted their opposition a three-point head start in every game this year, and this does include their wins againt the Tennessee Titans and Cincinnati Bengals, two of the worst teams in the NFL.
Just think - had the defense been able to get off the field against the Colts and Chargers in that first drive, the Broncos are likely undefeated and atop the AFC West. Sure, it's not primarily the defense's fault that the Broncos lost two games in a row, but it's a consistent trend that has contributed to the team losing.
If defensive coordinator Vance Joseph cannot find a way to fix this issue, the Broncos will continue to fall behind early in games and get themselves into 'comeback mode' immediately. Perhaps against a below-average offense in Week 5,
