Vinnie Sunseri... how much did his injury cost the team?

After two weeks of agony since the Auburn game I'm still looking for the reason for the lackluster play by the team in the last 5 games of the season. All at once easy passes were dropped, QB making bad passes, running backs fumbling the football, the opposing teams running back kicks for large chunks of yardage, and the defense making many more coverage mistakes than in the earlier games. Most of these things didn't happen in the earlier games and Bama made winning look a lot easier.

Today I was sitting with a group of friends discussing the team and how the team seemed so different in those past few weeks and something came to mind that I think played a major role in those performances. Vinnie Sunseri was injured against Arkansas and the team hasn't played up to par since. Sure they scored some points but still the team did not look the same since his injury. First of all, how could one player have that much affect on the team?

Sunseri isn't as fast and agile as most of the other defensive backs but he sure makes up for that with his knowledge of the game, which includes making sure the other players are lined up in their proper positions. How many times did the team get burned for players being in the wrong coverage since his injury? If you guessed many, you would be correct.

He was immediately missed on special teams as there were three long kick returns in the first game after his injury, something that hadn't happened all year. I just wonder would if the kick return by Auburn to win the Iron Bowl would have happened had Sunseri been healthy, somehow I think not.

Hindsight is always the right way after something bad happens and my rehashing the past games is no more than hindsight, but I think this young man would have made a big difference in the way the team performed had he been on the field and Bama would be playing for the BCSNG instead of the Sugar Bowl. Nothing can change the outcome of what has happened, but I hope the fans will realize just how valuable he has been for the team even though he is not an all-american at any position. Maybe we all can just consider him as a "playing coach" when he's on the field, not a real position on the team but one that he deserves to have it's name.

Having said all of the above I truly feel that when Vinnie's career is over at Bama he will rightfully have the name Coach, because I think Bama will be his first real coaching job. Anyway that is my wish because there's a fellow at Bama now that seemed to be the same type of player that Vinnie is when he played football, not great but good and he loved the game of football when he was a player. That person is Coach Nick Saban and I hope he takes Vinnie under his wing and developes him into a coach that is as good as he is. That's a lot to ask for but I think Vinnie is the person that deserves that chance and I think he will handle it well.