Tide may never look great on the road, and it may not ever matter

Alabama has played four road games this season.

In the first, they scored 10 offensive points, and lost.

In the second, they gained 227 total yards and won 14-13 on a blocked PAT.

They were plenty solid enough in the third, boltinjg out to a 27-0 lead, though in the end they dropped to 0-3 against the spread.

And in their fourth, in Tiger Stadium on Saturday night, they averaged a meager 3.9 yards a play, scored 10 points in the game's first 59 minutes and 57 seconds, and appeared to fumble the game away inside their own 15-yard-line the final 90 seconds of regulation.

At this point it seems safe to assume that the Crimson Tide juggernaut that eviscerated Florida and annihilated Texas A&M -- two wins that look even more impressive than before after the Gators' and Aggies' resurrection over the past two weeks -- simply isn't going to reappear on the road. But at this point, it's also safe to assume that doesn't matter in the least.

There's two big reasons why. The first is that even if the Tide offense continues to flail outside the friendly confines of Bryant-Denny Stadium, it doesn't matter when Alabama's defense plays the way it's played since the loss at Ole Miss.

Led by All-American candidates like safety Landon Collins and linebacker Reggie Ragland -- enjoying a season every bit as dynamic as those enjoyed by your Rolando McClains, your C.J. Mosleys -- the Tide defense saved the team's bacon at Arkansas and absolutely throttled LSU, allowing just 2.9 yards per-play, no touchdowns after the first quarter, and not even a yard in overtime. Considering how much time that defense spent on the field in the second half -- as the offense made one first down on its first five possessions -- it may have well been its best performance since the 2012 season.

Alabama continues to find a way to win on the road. (USATSI)

The other: Alabama has no more road games. They play Mississippi State at home. They play Western Carolina at home. And they play Auburn at home. And if the Alabama that showed up against Florida and Texas A&M shows up in those games, even the Bulldogs and Tigers will have to play their very, very best games to challenge the Tide. That would leave just the SEC championship game between the Tide and the College Football Playoff, a game in which Alabama would likely face inscrutable Georgia or the Missouri team Georgia shut out 34-0.

Credit where it is due: while other teams may have to worry about 'style points,' Alabama has earned the right over the past several years to treat 2014 as a 'survive and advance' proposition. If it makes the postseason at 12-1 with an SEC title, it will go to the College Football Playoff. It didn't have to be unstoppable at LSU. It never had to be unstoppable on the road. It just had to win.

And thanks to that defense and Blake Sims' masterful execution on Alabama's final drive of regulation*, win is just what Alabama did. Going on the road still looks for all the world like the Tide's Achilles heel, but now the opposition's all out of arrows, and the path to the playoff looks safer than ever.

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