The 2012 Crimson Tide season was for all intent purposes an incredibly successful and satisfying season. Despite some fluke plays on desperation heaves by a certain Heisman winning quarterback, the defense played as close to perfect as one could hope. The Alabama defensive unit led the nation in total defense, scoring defense and rushing defense and ranked 7th in passing defense. There was nowhere to go but down, right?
The defensive units that followed that championship year were by no means failures but a few cracks in the foundation began to form. The Tide went from seventh against the pass to 11th in 2013 to 59th last season.