Inconsistency Only Thing That Can Keep Surging Saints from Playoff Berth

The 6-8 New Orleans Saints are back on top of the NFC South with two games left to go after they destroyed the host Chicago Bears, 31-15, on Monday Night Football.

Forget all of the jabbering and complaining about how a team that may finish below .500 will get into the playoffs. The fact of the matter is the Saints are in prime position to host a home game this postseason. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is going to make a lot of NFC teams uncomfortable.

Sure, the Saints aren't as good as they were last season. Darren Sproles is now under the watchful eye of an offensive witch doctor named Chip Kelly, while defensive coordinator Rob Ryan and head coach Sean Payton's bantering on the sidelines has become must-see TV.

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But the black-and-gold squadron from New Orleans still has Drew Brees, Coach Payton, a deep crop of running backs and of course, everyone's favorite tight end, Jimmy Graham.

That collection of names playing in front of the feral onlookers who camp out in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome is good enough to beat any team, regardless of its record.

Take a trip back with me down memory lane. Let's cool out and reminisce for a second about a time when Brees threw for 311 yards and a trio of touchdowns. A time when former Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram looked like he was back in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, running for 172 yards on 24 attempts.

We're talking about Week 8, when the Saints beat the Green Bay Packers in New Orleans, 44-23. For one night, it felt like the old Saints were back.

Even Ryan's defense was flying to the football, finishing its evening with four sacks, five tackles for loss and five QB hits.

That team we saw on Sunday Night Football's late-October broadcast was good. It's been a bumpy ride since then—the Saints went 2-3 in the weeks that followed—but against a beaten-up Bears roster in Week 15, it resurfaced.

Brees was at his very best once again. Scaling the pocket and putting the ball on the money, he torched the Bears secondary for 375 yards and three touchdowns.

That was great to see this late in the season, especially when you consider all the struggles he's endured this year. 

Bleacher Report's Cian Fahey tweeted early in November about how Brees' issues should be discussed in greater detail:

"

Drew Brees' season needs to be more closely scrutinized. That's an incredibly unaware play.

— Cian Fahey (@Cianaf) November 9, 2014"

The film on Brees simply isn't as pristine as it was once.

No matter, though; against the Bears he channeled a bit of that vintage Brees. He threw just about every route possible with great timing and even better touch. The biggest beneficiary, yardage-wise, was Graham.

On seven targets, Graham snagged five passes for 87 yards. Halfback Pierre Thomas wasn't far behind, catching five balls for 83 yards.

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

Ingram helped out on the ground, picking up 59 yards and a late touchdown on 17 carries. His 3.5-yards-per-carry average wasn't great, but paired up with Thomas and Khiry Robinson, it was more than enough keep the Bears defense honest.

We can talk about the Saints offense until our faces turn blue. When it's on, it's a well-oiled machine that can manufacture a ton of points. But the real postseason wild card here is going to come down to the defense.

Before its Monday Night Football appearance, Coach Ryan's unit was ranked 31st in the NFL. With the Saints defense yielding an astounding 398.7 per game, no lead ever could be considered safe.

To be fair, not all of these problems stem from Ryan's scheme. Regression at various positions on the defense has certainly played a large role in the unit's despondency.

Perhaps no regression has been greater than that of second-year safety Kenny Vaccaro.

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The 15th pick in the 2013 NFL draft, Vaccaro enjoyed a successful rookie campaign. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Vaccaro finished his first season with a positive-3.1 grade.

After a slow start, the young safety adjusted to Ryan's scheme and ended his year on a high note. Ryan even said at one point last season, per NFL.com's Chris Wesseling, that he was giving Vaccaro more information to process than any player in his history as a defensive coordinator.

Out of what felt like deep left field, 2014 has been the opposite of his impressive rookie season. Vaccaro has plummeted down PFF's charts. Not factoring in his game against the Bears, he was the site's 85th-ranked safety out of a possible 86 names.

The showdown in Chicago was different. ESPN NFL Nation reporter Mike Triplett noted that Vaccaro's head coach was very pleased with what he saw from the 23-year-old:

To say that people have been waiting a long time for a performance like this would be an understatement.

It's been a struggle for the Saints defense across the board. Minus Junior Galette's nine sacks and cornerback Keenan Lewis' flashes of quality play, no one has performed well.

Hopefully what we saw out of this unit Monday night against Chicago will be a breakthrough. Seven team sacks and seven quarterback hits is what this pass rush needs in order to win football games.

The Saints will finish up their season with games against the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If they want to hold on to this division lead, they are probably going to have win both contests.

It hasn't been pretty. But at this point, the Saints are embracing their situation. Coach Payton's team is out there making a run at the playoffs. Assuming it gets there, all bets could be off if Brees stays hot and this defense can find a way to rush the passer like it did versus the Bears.

Hey, crazier things have happened when teams who aren't supposed to get into the playoffs make it. Sadly, the Saints know that all too well.

Unless noted otherwise, all game scores and information come courtesy of ESPN.com.