Alabama Football: Mac vs. Tua in Week 1 of the NFL

Two Alabama football champions will face off soon

In the past, Alabama football could produce players at every position except for quarterback. Now, there are three Tide quarterbacks starting in the NFL, and two of them will face off against each other in the first week of the season.

Mac Jones is officially the starting quarterback of the New England Patriots. This means that half of the AFC East are commanded by former Alabama football quarterbacks. Miami is building around Tua, and New England cut the competition for Jones.

We expected to see Jones play against Jalen Hurts in the preseason, but a sudden illness kept Hurts from playing. That means that this will be the first matchup between Alabama football quarterbacks in the NFL since Saban took over.

Assuming that Tua and Mac stay the starting quarterbacks, we will see this matchup at least twice a year for the foreseeable future. Divisional teams play each other twice a year, and both teams hope to be playoff contenders each year.

The last time Tua and Mac played on the same field was against Mississippi State. Tua went down with a devastating hip injury, and Jones filled in for the rest of the season.

Tua and Mac’s careers will forever be linked. They were in the same recruiting class for Alabama football. Both won national titles with the Crimson Tide. Jones was Tua’s backup, and he stepped up when Tua went down with injuries. Now, they’ll be on opposite sidelines.

Neither the Patriots nor the Dolphins made the NFL Playoffs last year, but both teams have a genuine shot of making it this season. The Dolphins were one win away from making the playoffs last year, and the Patriots invested plenty of capital in upgrading the roster this offseason. This NFL rivalry has a new chapter, and it is led by these two Alabama football legends.