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If you produced a scouting report on each of the NFC South coaches, New Orleans’ Sean Payton would clearly be the leader in arm strength.

He’s a former college quarterback and played a bit in the NFL in a strike season. I’ve also seen Payton playing catch with his son after games in the Superdome and the old quarterback still can throw pretty well.

But Payton has been at his best this season when he’s throwing red flags, instead of footballs. When it comes to getting calls overturned via replay challenges, Payton is near the top of the league. He’s challenged eight calls this year and had six of them overturned. That’s a 75-percent success rate and the only NFL coach with a better number in that category is Indianapolis’ Jim Caldwell at 80 percent (four of his five challenges have been overturned). No NFL coach has had more calls overturned than Payton.

The rest of the NFC South coaches aren’t faring nearly as well as Payton when it comes to replay challenges. Tampa Bay’s Raheem Morris is next in line with a 42.86-percent success rate (three of his seven challenges have resulted in calls being overturned).

Atlanta’s Mike Smith is next with a 37.5 percent success rate. Smith has had three of his eight challenges overturned. Carolina’s John Fox is two for 11, which puts him at 18.18 percent. All numbers are courtesy of ESPN Stats & Information.

When it comes to replay challenges, New Orleans coach Sean Payton is clearly the king of the NFC South and one of the best in the entire NFL.

Payton has used eight challenges and been successful on six of them. That’s 75 percent and only Kansas City’s Todd Haley, who has been successful on all four of his challenges, and Indianapolis’ Jim Caldwell (four out of five) have better percentages.

Payton’s six overturned calls tie him with Tom Coughlin and Pete Carroll for most in the league, but both of those coaches have challenged more frequently than Payton. After Payton, there’s a sharp drop off in challenge success for NFC South coaches.

Tampa Bay’s Raheem Morris is next at 42.9 percent as he has had three of seven challenges overturned. Atlanta’s Mike Smith is three of eight (37.5 percent). And, finally, Carolina’s John Fox is at 20 percent (two of 10).

With help from ESPN Stats & Information, let’s take an updated look at how NFC South coaches are faring when it comes to replay challenges.

New Orleans’ Sean Payton is the best in the division in this category and among the league leaders. Kansas City is the only team that's perfect on challenges (four for four). Payton ranks fourth in the league and has had five of seven (71.4 percent) plays he's challenged overturned.

Atlanta’s Mike Smith is tied for ninth in the league at 50 percent. He’s had three of six challenges reversed. Tampa Bay’s Raheem Morris is at 40 percent with two reversals in five attempts.

Carolina’s John Fox is tied for 27th with a 20-percent success rate. He’s had two of 10 challenges reversed.

When it comes to challenging plays, New Orleans coach Sean Payton has had more success than anybody in the NFL this year.

Payton has had a league-high five plays overturned. He’s challenged six times, so that means his percentage is 83.3. Only Kansas City has a better percentage (100), but the Chiefs have challenged only once.

Atlanta’s Mike Smith is next in the NFC South with three of his five challenges (60 percent) getting overturned. Tampa Bays’ Raheem Morris and Carolina’s John Fox haven’t been as fortunate.

Morris has had one of four challenges (25 percent) overturned while Fox has been successful on only one of eight (12.5 percent) challenges. Jacksonville, Cleveland and Pittsburgh are the only teams not have a successful challenge this year.

I’m just starting to work my way through the weekly truckload of numbers that ESPN Stats & Information sends us and will probably generate several posts off it Wednesday.

But I was just browsing how all NFL coaches have fared when it came to replay challenges. I saw the results for Carolina’s John Fox and it made me think of a line from “Hoosiers,’’ which for my money is one of the five best movies of all time and I’m not just talking sports movies. I can’t repeat it on a family blog, but those who have seen the movie might recall the scene where “Coach Norman Dale’’ (played by Gene Hackman) gets invited to dinner by the mother of the character played by Barbara Hershey.

For those who didn’t see the movie or don’t recall the line, let’s just say that Fox hasn’t seen a lot of sunshine this season. Yeah, he got a win Sunday, but this guy just isn’t catching many breaks.

When it comes to challenging replays, Fox swung five times and missed five times. Six other coaches haven’t won a challenge yet, but none of them has challenged as many times as Fox.

The rest of the NFC South coaches have fared much better in this category. Atlanta’s Mike Smith is batting .500. He’s won two of his four challenges.

New Orleans’ Sean Payton has won three of his four challenges and that 75-percent mark ranks him No. 6 in the league. The five guys ahead of him are all perfect on their challenges and one of them is from the NFC South.

Yep, at least on a percentage basis, Tampa Bay’s Raheem Morris is the king of the NFC South when it comes to challenges. He’s made one challenge and he won it.

John Fox is king of the NFC South when it comes to replay challenges.

According to ESPN’s Stats & Information, Fox has been successful on five of the eight replay challenges he has used this season. That’s 63 percent, which puts him way ahead of the rest of the NFC South and not all that far from the top of the league.

Indianapolis’ Jim Caldwell has been successful on all three of his challenges and the Buffalo tandem of Dick Jauron and Perry Fewell has combined to succeed on each of their two challenges. After those three, only four coaches have a better percentage than Fox.

Atlanta’s Mike Smith is second in the division, succeeding on 45 percent (five of 11) of his challenges. New Orleans’ Sean Payton and Tampa Bay’s Raheem Morris each have succeed on three of eight (38 percent) challenges.

Coach John Fox is under a lot of heat in Carolina, and much of it is justified.

But Fox probably could use a kind word right about now, so we’ll give him one. When it comes to replay challenges, Fox is the only NFC South coach having any kind of success.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, Fox has been successful on five of eight (63 percent) of his challenges. He’s the only NFC South coach who’s been better than 50 percent.

Tampa Bay’s Raheem Morris and New Orleans’ Sean Payton each have won three of their eight challenges (38 percent). Atlanta coach Mike Smith has won five of his 11 challenges (45 percent).

When it comes to getting plays overturned with replay challenges, Carolina coach John Fox is the king of the NFC South.

Fox has been successful on three of his four challenges and only two teams are better than Fox’s 75 percent rate. Atlanta’s Mike Smith is second in the division at 50 percent (five out of 10).

New Orleans’ Sean Payton has won three of his seven challenges (43 percent) and Tampa Bay’s Raheem Morris has succeeded on one of his four challenges (25 percent).