The Alabama defense has taken its fair share of criticism this season. It was almost as though people forgot that the Tide dealt with a slew of injuries defensively that would certainly affect the unit’s performance.

On Monday night, the Crimson Tide showed that those criticisms were not only unwarranted, they were absolute nonsense.

Clemson entered the Sugar Bowl with the No. 29 offense in yards per game (448.2) and No. 20 in scoring offense (35.4 points per game). They left with 6 points and 188 total yards. It was the first time since 2015 — a span of 46 games — that the Tigers failed to reach the end zone.

It was the most dominant performance Alabama’s defense has played all season.

The return of a fully healthy combination of Terrell Lewis, Christian Miller and Mack Wilson was highly anticipated, and the trio certainly didn’t disappoint. Lewis and Miller contributed to a fierce pass rush that pressured Kelly Bryant into mistakes and sacked him five times.

The pass rush helped contribute to Bryant throwing two interceptions, including this tipped pass to starting nose tackle Da’Ron Payne:

Wilson, of course, returned the other interception 18 yards for only Alabama’s second defensive touchdown of the season.

The impressive performance didn’t come without a cost, however.

Redshirt sophomore edge rusher Anfernee Jennings was all over the field, forcing the poor throw that Payne intercepted and contributing one of Alabama’s five sacks. He suffered a sprained knee late in the fourth quarter that could hold him out of the national championship.

Hope you’re not squeamish:

Not only was Jennings a key contributor getting after Bryant in the passing game, he was equally as effective stopping Clemson’s run game, accounting for multiple tackles for loss.

The Tigers only managed to rush for 64 yards on the night — averaging only 1.9 yards in the process.

The defense played better than they have played in awhile. It was the first time that we’ve seen them play that suffocating style of football that we had grown accustomed to seeing.

But there is almost certainly going to be lingering effects if Jennings isn’t able to take the field against Georgia next Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Bulldogs were able to survive a 54-48 shootout against Oklahoma to secure their spot in the national championship.

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