Alabama's advantages and weaknesses going into the CFP Championship

Alabama spent the 2016 season looking like one of the biggest juggernauts to roll through not just college football, but all of sports for the year. Blow out wins all season along, even against against ranked teams like USC, Tennessee and Florida during the regular season followed by a relatively easy victory over the Washington Huskies in the CFP semifinal game. Sure LSU gave them a scare in November, but it was the Crimson Tide that finally put points on the board in the 4th quarter to win 10-0 in their one close game of the year.

But just because Alabama had a dominant season, doesn't mean the title is automatically theirs as they go into Monday's game facing a battle-tested Clemson.

We've given you the reasons why the 2017 College Football Playoff Championship between Alabama and Clemson isn't just a rematch of the 2016 title bout along with who has the coaching edge between the Crimson Tide's Nick Saban and Clemson's Dabo Swinney, now it's time to get to the tail of the tape. What edge does Alabama have in the title game (and how Clemson can steal it back).

(Want to read the Clemson side of this? Don't worry, we've got you covered.)

College Football Playoff Championship 
Clemson #2 (13-1, ACC) vs Alabama #1 (14-0, SEC)
Location: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa
Time: Monday, Jan. 9, 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT
Channel: ESPN

Biggest advantages for Alabama over Clemson

Daniel Tran: The Crimson Tide defense might be one of the greatest of all time, and it all starts with their defensive line led by the indomitable Jonathan Allen. The senior tackle has been wrecking offensive lines all year, leading Alabama with 9.5 sacks, a nice chunk of the Crimson Tide’s 50 sacks for the year. Clemson’s Deshaun Watson is a game-changing quarterback, but he won’t be able to do much if he’s on his back.

On the other side of the ball, Alabama’s running game is starting to heat up and that’s bad news for the Clemson. The Crimson Tide was eighth in the nation in total rushing, and that was without Bo Scarbrough finding his groove for most of the season. The five-star running back gained 180 rushing yards and two touchdowns against the Huskies last week. Clemson shut down Ohio State last week, but Mike Weber and Curtis Samuel aren’t 6’2, 230 pounds.

Lastly, Alabama has championship pedigree to lean on. They are only a year removed from winning it all, so they know what it takes to get to the top of the mountain. With one of the best coaches in college football with a fist full of national titles, they have the winning recipe.

Sam Greszes: Scoring defense. They have the top-ranked scoring defense in the nation, with 160 total defensive points on the year. That takes the pressure off of freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts out a lot. Really, their defense, just in general is a huge plus, because it's going to take a top defense to deal with Deshaun Watson.

Overall though, the matchup generally favors them. What I mean by that is that although Watson is a rare talent, he has thrown more than his fair share of interceptions this season. Alabama thrives on pass-happy offenses that operate at a slightly higher risk level, so if Clemson doesn't radically change their game plan, they could be in for a world of hurt.

Shiloh Carder: Like I said last week, Alabama's defense is an advantage over anyone. I mean, it is almost like you can count on the defense getting you 7 points on its own every week and they just suffocate you into making a mistake. Clemson has been known to cough it up so that defense could make a huge play to turn momentum their way.

They also woke Bo Scarbrough up last week and he turned in a typical Alabama-bruising back performance against Washington. That can not be dismissed. Scarbrough wore out a decent Huskies defense as the game went on. Clemson's defense is a better unit, but they did allow Florida State's Dalvin Cook run for 169 yards and 4 TDs and Lamar Jackson ran for 162 yards and 2 TDs.

Finally, Alabama just wins. It is their culture. They've not only won their last 26 games but only three of them have been less than one score.

Biggest weaknesses for Alabama

Daniel Tran: One of the biggest question marks coming into the playoffs was Jalen Hurts’ effectiveness in the passing game, and those didn’t disappear after the National Semifinal. Hurts was unproductive passing the ball, throwing for 57 yards on seven completions. The Crimson Tide can ride its running game and defense to victory, but when the big throws have to be made if Alabama falls behind, it will be hard to trust the young Hurts.

Also, Steve Sarkisian is taking over the offense a little early... like the national title game early. In an odd move, Lane Kiffin will not be sticking around to command the offense that he was responsible for all year. A coaching change this late in the season in the biggest game of the year is not good for continuity and there is no way Sark is going to be as familiar with his players as Kiffin. Coaching can affect the outcome of games, and this may be an ominous sign for the Crimson Tide.

Sam Greszes: If Alabama comes out of the gate slowly again, there could be trouble. The semifinal game started off much more competitive than most of us probably imagined, with Washington scoring first. Alabama looked sluggish both on offense and defense during the 1st quarter, and though they pulled it together, if Clemson can attack early, Bama might find itself in a hole it can't dig out of.

Alabama is also a bit one-dimensional and I feel like Nick Saban would agree with this. In the Peach Bowl, the Crimson Tide only had 57 yards passing. It's a run-first offense, which is fine, since nobody has been able to stop it just yet. But if Clemson can, and if they can force Hurts to try to win the game with his arm by taking a multiple-score lead relatively early, Bama will be in serious trouble."

Shiloh Carder: This Kiffin thing has been all the rage all week, and I'd never want to question Nick Saban, but it's kind of a big deal to change offensive coordinators a week before the championship game. Remember that Jalen Hurts has had Kiffin's voice in his ear this entire season so this is a bigger change than people are really appreciating.

Plus, Clemson just shut down a Ohio State offense that is a lot like Alabama with their somewhat limited passing attack. The Tide's offensive line is much better than Ohio State's but it struggled to throw the ball. Hurt needs to come up bigger than he did in the Peach Bowl if Alabama plans on winning another championship.