THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

SAM FARMER’S NFL RANKINGS AND COMMENTS

1 St. Louis (7-1) No team is better on the road.

2 Miami (6-2) Dolphins finally in position to beat Jets.

3 Green Bay (6-2) Defense shut down Chicago.

4 Oakland (6-2) 300 yards to Seattle’s ground game?

5 Chicago (6-2) Play calling was suspect vs. Packers.

6 Pittsburgh (6-2) Defense neither bends nor breaks.

7 Baltimore (6-3) Have an easy schedule down the stretch.

8 San Francisco (6-2) Hearst and Barlow form great 1-2 punch.

9 Philadelphia (5-3) Could be in line for another scoring spree.

10 Denver (5-4) With Kennison gone, need a capable No. 2 receiver.

11 New York Jets (6-3) Santana Moss primed for his debut.

12 Cleveland (4-4) Tim Couch looking better by the week.

13 New York Giants (5-4) Need to reboot the running game.

14 Tampa Bay (4-4) Keyshawn quietly cruising along.

15 San Diego (5-4) Dream season is slipping fast.

16 New Orleans (4-4) Aaron Brooks tore up the S.F. secondary in loss.

17 Indianapolis (4-4) Peyton Manning’s toughness will be tested.

18 Seattle (4-4) Beating Raiders was a huge confidence boost.

19 New England (5-4) Tom Brady isn’t ready to give up starting job.

20 Atlanta (4-4) Maurice Smith is better than anyone expected.

21 Cincinnati (4-4) As Corey Dillon goes, so go the Bengals.

22 Washington (3-5) Is their return from the dead real?

23 Tennessee (3-5) Hurting and wafer-thin.

24 Minnesota (3-5) Everything is going wrong.

25 Jacksonville (2-5) Jaguars have lost five in a row.

26 Kansas City (2-7) Time for Vermeil to re-ponder retirement.

27 Dallas (2-6) Leaf didn’t look horrible in loss.

28 Arizona (2-6) Simply cannot score.

29 Buffalo (1-7) At least they’re decent against the pass.

30 Carolina (1-8) No line means no ground game.

31 Detroit (0-8) With pressure off, maybe they’ll beat Cardinals.