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The Sinkhole takes a weekly look at the people, themes and trends that are threatening teams’ competitive chances. On to this week’s rankings:

3. Kenny Vaccaro, S, New Orleans Saints

The Saints’ defensive regression has been mystifying, but it’s not hard to identify some of the major culprits. And few players have had as stark of a drop-off from last season as Vaccaro.

The second-year safety ranks as Pro Football Focus’ worst at the position this season after a promising rookie campaign. Vaccaro’s shortcomings were evident again Sunday, when his coverage lapse on 4th-and-10 late in the fourth quarter resulted in a Michael Crabtree 51-yard reception and new life for the 49ers.

The Saints somehow remain atop the NFC South with a 4-5 record. They should be able to take care of their work within the division, but they can’t afford the safety play to dip any lower.

It is disappointing, I don't see how they can pin all the blame for that play on him though. Crabtree was Corey White's man to cover. I'm no coach or anything of the sort so I don't know what corners are taught in that situation. Me personally, I would have stayed on my receiver unless or until it became clear that crappydick was running. Seemed like the entire D wasn't sure how to play that one.

The Saints (4-5) have lost four games by three points or less -- two more than any other team in the NFL, according to ESPN Stats & Information data. And they've been leading all four of those games with less than two minutes left in regulation.

There have been many reasons, including some costly turnovers by Saints quarterback Drew Brees. But the most maddening mistake that keeps creeping up is huge breakdowns by the secondary.

They had a blown coverage assignment on a 28-yard pass in the final seconds at Cleveland in Week 2. They had a series of missed tackles on Golden Tate's 73-yard touchdown catch in the final minutes at Detroit in Week 7. Then they got burned by San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick's big arm when they left Michael Crabtree wide open for a 51-yard catch on a fourth-and-10 play this past Sunday (click here for an extensive breakdown).

Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro was the deep safety who decided to roll his coverage to the middle of the field instead of staying back on Crabtree. After watching the tape, Vaccaro admitted Monday that if he could redo it, maybe he would have stayed deeper. But he disagreed with TV analyst Tony Dungy, whom Vaccaro said called him "undisciplined."

"When a guy rolls out, we're taught as safeties, you gotta roll with him. And he was at the far sideline. … Once he shuts down half the field, we close half the field. He just has a cannon, that's it," explained Vaccaro, who said he decided to run up on tight end Vernon Davis in the middle of the field instead because he considered him a bigger threat and had seen Kaepernick make a similar throw on film.

Whether it has been a lack of discipline, poor judgment or just plain poor execution, it's clearly been a consistent problem for a young Saints secondary. Although they've shown improvement over the past month for long stretches of games, they're still breaking down too often in those less-scripted situations.

4 games by 3 points or less. Damn...

Leading all 4 with 2 minutes remaining. Damn.....

Repeated turnovers & breakdowns. Damn............

Worst ranked safety in the entire NFL. Thats so disappointing