By Pat Yasinskas

You can make a case that New Orleans’ Drew Brees is the best quarterback in the NFL. But some people are going to blur that argument by bringing up Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. But there’s one specific — and very important — area where Brees unquestionably is the best in the business.

That’s third-down passing. Brees’ stats in that department are far and away the best in the NFL.

According to ESPN Stats & Information. Brees has attempted 54 third-down passes and completed 42 of them. That’s a 77.8 completion percentage, which is the best in the league. On third downs, Brees has thrown for 566 yards, No. 1 in the league. He’s also thrown for a league-high seven touchdowns and has not been intercepted.

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Thoughts on the New Orleans Saints’ 30-27 victory against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium:

What it means: The gap in competitive balance between the top and bottom of the NFC South has narrowed. The gap in the standings has not. As they’ve been doing most of the season, the Panthers kept things very close. They played a New Orleans team that’s been to the playoffs the past two seasons very tightly. But, ultimately, Drew Brees and the Saints rallied to score (on a touchdown pass to Pierre Thomas) with 50 seconds remaining. That puts the Saints at 4-1 and, depending on how Tampa Bay does in its later game at San Francisco, no worse than a share of first place in the division. The Panthers are much improved and there’s little doubt they’ll pull off some upsets later in the year. But the bottom line is Carolina is 1-4.

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Jeremy Shockey doesn’t plan to let a mild concussion keep him out of Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints. Especially since he hasn’t completely gotten over the Saints releasing him.

The four-time Pro Bowl tight end returned to practice Thursday for the Carolina Panthers and said he expects to play against his former team.

“This game can’t come fast enough for me,” Shockey said, who’s also dealing with a broken finger he suffered in the season opener against Arizona.

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Thoughts on New Orleans’ 23-10 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars:

What it means: The bottom line is the Saints are 3-1 and in first place in the NFC South. They could have sole possession of first place if Tampa Bay loses Monday night. That’s all you really can ask for in the first quarter of the season. This wasn’t a particularly impressive or dominating performance by the Saints. The Jaguars, who are by no means a good team and were starting rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert, were very much in the game in the first half. But the Saints did what they had to do and got a road win as they began a stretch of three straight games on the road.

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By Pat Yasinskas

When it comes to third-down passing, New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees is the best in the league and Tampa Bay’s Josh Freeman isn’t far behind.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, Brees has thrown for 394 yards, six touchdowns and has compiled a Total QBR of 98.9 on third downs. Those numbers are all league highs. Brees has completed 26 of 33 (78.8 percent) of his third-down passes and has not been intercepted.

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By Pat Yasinskas

On the surface, the New Orleans Saints are in a great spot.

They’re 2-1 and tied with Tampa Bay atop the NFC South. The Saints also have what looks like a very winnable game at Jacksonville on Sunday.

But you don’t have to look too far beyond the surface to see some possible problems. The Saints had two starters on their offensive line leave Sunday’s game with injuries. Right tackle Zach Strief and center Olin Kreutz each suffered knee injuries.

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By Pat Yasinskas

Thoughts on New Orleans’ 40-33 victory against the Houston Texans at the Superdome:

What it means: No matter what happens in the later game between Tampa Bay and Atlanta, the Saints still will have at least a share of first place in the NFC South and that’s the most important thing to come out of Sunday. This game was far from pretty for the defense, which is showing a trend of struggling against good offenses.

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By Pat Yasinskas

Now that the Carolina Panthers have stepped into this century, the NFC South has a new look from top to bottom.

Cam Newton is flinging footballs, the Panthers are scoring points, and the days of John Fox signing off on a third-and-long draw play to Nick Goings are history. The Panthers have their franchise quarterback in Newton, which gives them something in common with the Saints, Falcons and Buccaneers.

Newton joining New Orleans’ Drew Brees, Atlanta’s Matt Ryan and Tampa Bay’s Josh Freeman just might make the NFC South the league’s only division with four franchise quarterbacks. That’s great

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By Pat Yasinskas

New Orleans coach Sean Payton said Monday the Saints expect to get defensive end Will Smith back sometime this week.

Smith was suspended for the first two games of this season after testing positive for the banned substance “StarCaps’’ in 2008. He also was required to forfeit four game checks. Smith hasn’t been formally reinstated yet, but Payton said he expects that by the middle of the week.

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