The New Orleans Saints came in at No. 21 in this week’s ESPN NFL power rankings.

While that ranking nearly matches their place in the league standings -- they are tied for 19th in win percentage -- it doesn’t capture just how well the team has played this season.

ESPN’s Football Power Index projects the Saints to be the sixth-best team in the NFL moving forward, mostly carried by their top-three offense. The Saints’ 15-spot difference between the power rankings and FPI makes them potentially the most underrated team in the NFL.

They might be the unluckiest team heading into Week 13.

Wild finishes

Before getting into the numbers on why the Saints are playing much better than their record and place in the power rankings suggest, let’s run through a few of the unusual circumstances that have led to their 5-6 record so far.

Week 1 vs. Raiders

Trailing by one with less than a minute to play, Derek Carr and Michael Crabtree connected on a two-point conversion to take the lead. Drew Brees moved the Saints 34 yards on two completions, but Wil Lutz’s 61-yard field goal attempt went wide left as time expired.

Week 2 at Giants

New Orleans didn’t allow a touchdown on defense but lost 16-13 to the New York Giants in Week 2. The only time New York found the end zone was on a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown in the first quarter.

Week 10 vs. Broncos

The Saints had the chance to take a late lead against the Denver Broncos, who currently rank second in FPI, in Week 10. Brandin Cooks made a great catch in the end zone to tie the game before Will Parks returned a blocked PAT for two points and the win (and may or may not have stepped on the sideline before running into the end zone).

Week 11 at Panthers

Just before halftime, the Saints had a field goal blocked, and the Carolina Panthers scored on a 40-yard touchdown pass the next play. It was a 10-point swing in a matter of seconds, and the Saints lost by 3.

A number of teams over the years can count their close calls and ask what their record would be if a few things bounced their way. But not all of those teams had about a 1-in-5 chance of making the playoffs, according to FPI, with five games to play.

ESPN Analytics

The Saints have a better chance at winning the NFC South (10 percent) than the Broncos have of winning the AFC West (9 percent).

Offense as good as ever

Four teams enter Week 13 averaging more than 400 yards per game this season. All four teams are in the NFC South or NFC East -- the Saints, Washington Redskins, Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys -- and the Saints lead everyone at 434 yards per game.

Only three teams since the AFL/NFL merger in 1970 averaged more than 434 yards per game in a full season – the 2000 St. Louis Rams, 2011 Saints and 2013 Broncos.

On Sunday, the Saints put up 555 yards and 49 points against the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams’ defense entered Week 12 ranked sixth in yards per game (318) and tied for fifth in points per game allowed (18.7). The Saints scored two more touchdowns on offense Sunday (seven) than the Rams had allowed on defense in their previous four games combined (five).

Brees more accurate than ever

Dak Prescott and Tom Brady seem to be getting most of the MVP hype so far this season, but Brees isn’t far behind in that conversation.

Brees’ Total QBR of 77 ranks fifth among qualified quarterbacks. He ranks fourth in quarterback points above average, which is a stat that measures total value based on how many points a quarterback adds to his team’s net scoring margin compared to the league average.

The only quarterbacks who have been more valuable this season based on that metric are Dak Prescott, Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers. Tom Brady is just behind Brees in fifth place with four fewer games played than the quarterbacks above him.

Brees is one of the most accurate passers in NFL history, but we may be witnessing his best work in that category this season. He enters Week 13 with a completion percentage of 71.5 percent, on pace to be the highest in a single season in NFL history. Brees already holds the top two seasons in terms of completion percentage -- 71.2 percent in 2011 and 70.6 percent in 2009.

Fewer than 11 percent of Brees’ pass attempts this season have been thrown off target -- best in the NFL. That’s even better than his record-setting 2011 campaign when he was off target on 12.5 percent of throws.

Brees’ NFL-high red-zone completion percentage of 77 percent is more than 12 percentage points higher this season than it was in 2011. He has only been off-target on 3 percent of his red-zone throws, lowest of any quarterback in the last 10 seasons.