Byrd
 

I see a lot of people down on him. I get it, he doesn't look like the player we hoped he would be. Adding insult to injury we have key Saints players we had to let go to sign him and JG on other teams having a good year.
He isn't producing but the guy hits hard. Its really really hard to evaluate how well any of our DBs are doing because they are not getting any help whatsoever up front. Like I said in another post, you can have an entire backfield of Richard Shermans but it wouldn't matter if your line gave the QB all day to throw and continually let players by to get into the secondary.
Maybe we should have focused more on the D line this offseason instead of safeties.
It all starts up front. If you want to build a good defense you have to start there and build backwards.

Re: Byrd
 

Not all of Darren sharpers picks for us were when the D line got great pressure

Ball hawks have the instincts to know where the QB will go, I haven't seen that from Byrd

Yeah our D line is very very poor this year, but I haven't seen his instincts on display that show he's even in a good position to make a play on the ball

I hope I'm wrong but I think we overpaid for him, the bills knew it aswell

Re: Byrd
 

pressure or no pressure, Byrd sucks so far. I dare anyone to argue that. Took a terrible angle last night and missed let the opposition run right by for a large gain. He is not even close to be in position to make a play that could possibly result in an INT...don't even get me started on Vacarro. through 4 weeks, worst safety combo in league, and that is putting it nicely.

Re: Byrd
 

Byrd sucks because he has to play linebacker and safety and had no idea what the Saints call a "safety" is really a hybrid player who roams and watches the d-line because opponents regularly blast past the d-line and our LB's. Most other NFL teams have cometant down linemen on defense and presentable LB's. We've never replenished positions like LB with comparable replacements since Fujita left, and now Vilma.

I mentioned this in a blog post I wrote in the blog section of our website if you guys want to read it:

http://blackandgold.com/blogs/halo/424-mia-our-defense-has-never-been-same-since-we-didnt-replace-scott.html

Re: Byrd
 

Ahh the good old days with Scott Fujita as our outside LB who would consistently seal the game with an INT, especially in 2008, he did it like 3 times for us that season.

Re: Byrd
 

Going into sunday night with Minnesota killing Atlanta I thought our hopes to redeem ourselves were there and the team would be up and taking no prisoners

that is not what showed up last night

The d bought their own hype from last year

where did our rush 4 with great pressure pass rush from last year dissolve to? They destroyed the Colts in the pre-season then gone

Byrd and Vaccaro certainly looked great on paper

why are they constantly giving 20 yards cushion?

THe team is too busy trying to get cute and strip balls when a solid tackle is what we need

I wanna see Payton and Ryan do some ass kicking and fall back to last years system that worked

Re: Byrd
 

And all of these should be simple fixes. We can see that so its not like the coaches don't. All this **** boils down to ****ty fundamentals. How about focus on making a tackle before focusing on takeaways. How about playing close to receivers instead of 20 yds off. Its obvious something is wrong. Even Brees looked like he had already given up when he sat there and watched the D on that first drive. I really think the team is imploding and about to start turning on each other and pointing fingers.

Re: Byrd
 

Byrd looked like the only one even attempting to make a play last night on some plays. He's got the attitude. To me it looks like half scheme/ half of it is no pressure up front. They put him 20 yards away from the ball. No one would make any plays if they play that far off the ball. The other half is when there is some coverage the d line doesnt get there in time.

Re: Byrd
 

Darren Sharper did...

Re: Byrd
 

Byrd is 45 yards in the other direction of the ball, lining up on the other side of the midfield logo from the line of scrimmage, on almost every play. If the other team suddenly randomly decided to pooch punt the ball to him, Rob Ryan would be hailed as a DEFENSIVE GENIUS.

Maybe Byrd is a playmaker, a difference maker, I don't know, but seriously -- half the time there are people sitting in section 141 of the Dome, that are closer to the action than Byrd is.