METAIRIE ― Drew Brees met with New Orleans head coach Sean Payton with 1 minute, 37 seconds to play in the opening half of the Saints’ Sunday game against the 49ers.

Payton had one simple request – move the ball into the end zone if at all possible.

Four plays later, task accomplished. Brees hit receiver Robert Meachem for a 47-yard touchdown pass to put the Saints up 21-6 at halftime.

Alex Brandon / Associated Press (File photo)

Brees is playing like one of the NFL's top quarterbacks.

Yes, it has come to this. Ask for a touchdown and you shall receive one from Brees.

“I just wanted him to think,” Payton said. “Normally in that situation, you think, ‘Let’s get ourselves in field goal position here at the end of the half.’ He does such a great job in our two-minute offense. It seems each week we’ve been able to take advantage of that last possession.”

OK, Payton didn’t necessarily ask straight up for Brees to score a touchdown. It just seems that, with the way the Saints’ quarterback is playing, he can do that if he wanted to.

In the absence of a healthy Tom Brady and a polished Peyton Manning, Brees has emerged in 2008 as the NFL’s top quarterback, albeit quietly. His name certainly isn’t bandied about in the national media.

But since he arrived in the Crescent City prior to the 2006 season, the former Purdue quarterback and second-round pick by San Diego has been nothing short of amazing.

Heading into 2008, Brees had the most passing yards in the NFL (8,841) since 2006, the most completions (796), the most completions of 25-plus yards (68) and the most passing attempts (1,206).

Through four games this season, he hasn’t slowed down. He leads the NFL by almost 75 yards with 1,343 for a 335.8 yard per game average. His quarterback rating of 106.9 is third-best in the entire league.

He has the most completions (107), the highest completion percentage (72.3 percent) and the most passes of 40-plus yards (6) so far this season.

“He’s playing real well right now,” Payton said. “You guys can see that. All of us can. You watch his confidence and his ball location. He’s a tough sack to begin with, but he has got a great command of what we’re doing.

“He allows me as a play-caller to be real aggressive and come out and not really be conservative knowing that if the look is not what we’re looking for, we can get the ball underneath.”

And because he has confidence in his teammates, they have confidence in themselves. In Sunday’s 31-17 win over San Francisco, he completed passes to nine different receivers for 363 yards and three touchdowns.

“I do,” Brees said. “The proof is right there. Some of the younger guys like (Robert) Meachem, he continues to get better every time out. The more we get together, the more we build that trust and confidence.

“Lance (Moore), I’ve said all along, Lance has always been a great role player. All of us have always known he can be that guy. You just give him the opportunity. The combination of him and the other guys – when (Marques) Colston gets healthy, when DP (David Patten) gets 100 percent, when tight ends all get healthy – we’re pretty tough at the skill position.”

If not for a 2-2 record, Brees’ start to 2008 couldn’t be going much better. It’s in stark contrast to the first four games in 2007 when New Orleans started 0-4 and Brees couldn’t get things going right.

He threw nine interceptions and just one touchdown to open last season. Not surprisingly, the team’s fortunes followed suit. He followed that start up by throwing 27 more touchdowns and only nine more interceptions.

“You look at last year’s first four game, it seems like everything that could have gone wrong went wrong,” Brees said. “It’s a different situation. Expectations and everything else. We almost had to go through last year to have the mindset and have the edge right now.

“I’ve always said everything happens for a reason. You had to go through that to be where we are now.”

Call it a further education of a 29-year-old NFL quarterback.

It’s showing in his play.

“Drew does a great job of thinking through all the what-ifs – if it’s not this, it’s this, it’s this, then what happens with the play,” Payton said. “That’s some of the things he’s outstanding with. His preparation in regards to not just the look we gave him on the card for the scout team to run, the other three looks the defense could be in.

“He’s got a pretty good handle on and I think that serves him well when he plays.”

• Bradley Handwerger can be reached at bhandwerger@wwltv.com or 504-529-6439.