re: Do you even want this team to make the playoffs ?

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What about this team makes you think they have a legit shot at a run?

The Defense is an abortion at this point, and the offense really has been inconsistent.

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Blowing out the Packers. The offense still looking capable, albeit high variance. Still getting pretty good lines by Vegas.

High variance teams are the ones capable of making playoff runs. The Saints can play like a bottom 10 team in the NFL for a 5 game streak and a top 5 team in the NFL for a 5 game streak. If that comes at the right time, they can win the playoffs. Even though a team like the Dolphins might play better on average, they really don't have a whole lot of upward ceiling to beat elite teams when the elite teams play well.

When talking odds of the "field", having high variance is often more important than the actual quality of the teams. Drew Brees limiting his mistakes for 3 weeks in a row is a much higher bet than Carson Palmer or Ryan Tannehil playing elite ball for 3 weeks in a row, IMO.

So while there are probably around 10 teams in the NFL I would take over the Saints right now in an individual game, there are only about 5 or 6 that I would take over the Saints to go all the way to the Super Bowl out of any given seed.