New Orleans Saints No Longer in Position to Make a Run in NFC South

The rule of three states that things that come in threes prove to be more effective.

If that's truly the case, the Saints haven't quite learned their lesson after the past two weeks.

Two home games for the New Orleans Saints after gaining a division lead, two home losses. The team also lost two key components for an extend period of time.

The organization's window of opportunity is quickly closing. Monday's contest against the Baltimore Ravens has become the fulcrum for the Saints' entire season.

Everything was setting itself up perfectly for head coach Sean Payton and his squad.

The Saints had won two in a row with decisive victories over the Green Bay Packers and the Carolina Panthers. The team then returned home for a three-game stretch at the Superdome that was supposed to be the start of its run atop the NFC South.

Instead, the team faltered.

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It started with a questionable 27-24 overtime loss to the San Francisco 49ers. The Cincinnati Bengals then came to town and soundly defeated the Saints.

Now one game remains from the three-game homestand, and the Saints have already surrendered their status as the top team in the NFC South. Their trek now becomes an uphill battle despite the mediocrity that plagues the division.

The schedule can't be viewed as favorable at this point due to the Saints' recent inconsistency.

The Ravens are 6-4 and still remain in the thick of the AFC North race. Baltimore's defense is also ranked 11th overall in total defense and sacks. John Harbaugh's squad even had two weeks to prepare for the Saints, since Baltimore will be coming off its bye week.

It won't get any easier for the Saints after the Ravens.

Quarterback Drew Brees will then lead the team into Pittsburgh to face the 7-4 Steelers. Heinz Field is one of the most difficult venues for any opponent to play in. When the Saints' recent struggles on the road are factored into the equation, it will be highly difficult for New Orleans to emerge with a victory in that setting.

The Saints face three divisional opponents in the final four games of the season. Two of those three games are at home, but none of them can be considered easy contests due to the inconsistent play of each of the organizations in the division.

The one non-divisional game among those final four games is in Chicago against the Bears in December.

If road games are already an issue for the Saints, how will the team fare in a windy, possibly snow-swept and almost certainly bitingly cold arena?

Recent losses placed the Saints in an undesirable position. The remaining schedule will make it very difficult to emerge as the top team in the NFC South unless something drastic changes in the coming weeks.

Injuries suffered Sunday will also affect both sides of the ball.

The defense received the biggest blow when safety Rafael Bush suffered a fractured fibula during the Bengals contest, according to The Associated Press's Brett Martel.

Bush already replaced starting free safety Jairus Byrd, who was lost for the season in early October due to a torn lateral meniscus. Despite being the team's backup, Bush provided stability along the Saints' last line of defense. His play certainly wasn't a detriment.

The team is now down to three healthy safeties. This will prove problematic due to defensive coordinator Rob Ryan's penchant for using numerous safeties in a multitude of ways.

Marcus Ball is expected to fill the starting role opposite second-year safety Kenny Vaccaro. Ball, a second-year player out of Memphis University, was on the field for 13 snaps against the Bengals in Bush's stead.

It falls on Vaccaro to become the team's primary playmaker in the secondary.

“We’re banged up,” Vaccaro told Ramon Antonio Vargas of The New Orleans Advocate. “It’s on me really.”

This could prove to be a problem for the Saints. No defensive player has graded worse this season than the former first-round pick, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

Vaccaro is coming off arguably his best individual performance against the Bengals, but the talented safety simply hasn't developed at the rate expected of him after an impressive rookie campaign.

The organization has even reached the point where it might be required to sign a free agent just to provide depth at the position.

"There's certain positions in-house that are deeper, others where you would look very quickly to a short list that are outside the building," Payton told Martel. "Those are things we meet on all the time."

The problems at safety will be magnified by the fact that the team's top cornerback, Keenan Lewis, continues to battle a knee injury that only allowed him to play 11 snaps Sunday.

Due to these injuries, the Saints aren't nearly as effective in the secondary, and it was apparent against the Bengals. Cincinnati's coaching staff did a great job of taking advantage of the situation by quickly getting the ball out of quarterback Andy Dalton's hand.

Even after a horrific Thursday-night performance the previous week, Dalton wasn't challenged by the Saints' secondary. His performance was as good as that of any quarterback who took the field Sunday, as Pro Football Focus' Sam Monson detailed (h/t ESPN's Kevin Seifert):

The veteran Lewis understands there are currently major problems in the secondary, and they need to be rectified soon.

If they're not, the cornerback doesn't expect to be around for long, per NOLA.com's Katherine Terrell:

Bush's injury isn't the only one that will throw a monkey wrench into the Saints' plans.

The agent of Brandin Cooks confirmed Monday on Twitter that the rookie wide receiver will miss at least a month after requiring thumb surgery:

On the surface, the loss of Cooks doesn't appear as drastic for the Saints, who are being forced to start their third free safety this season. After all, the offense still features Jimmy Graham, Marques Colston, Kenny Stills in the passing game and a resurgent Mark Ingram running the football.

However, what Cooks represents in the Saints offense is far more than simple statistics.

Yes, the rookie is second on the team with 53 receptions for 550 yards. He is also the team's most reliable target, as ESPN.com's Jamison Hensley noted:

But it's Cooks versatility within the offense that represents his true value.

The 5'10", 189-pound wide receiver can line up outside or in the slot. He's used in bubble screens, jet sweeps and reverses. He displays enough toughness to go over the middle and more than enough speed to blow the top off a defense. No one else on the Saints' roster can do all of these things.

Instead, Payton will have to manufacture some of these things with players ill-suited for the role. The Saints' game plans will now present fewer wrinkles for opponents to prepare for in the coming weeks.

Despite all the talent still on that side of the ball, the unit becomes more vanilla and easier to defend with Cooks out of the lineup.

A difficult schedule, suspect secondary and major missing piece on offense comprise the trifecta of Saints problems with six games remaining.

The rule of three suggests the Saints will lose again this weekend before the team finally gets the message. Whether or not New Orleans can quickly turn it around and still be in the divisional race becomes more difficult with each passing week.

Brent Sobleski covers the NFC South for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.