PRO FOOTBALL NOTES : As Season Sorts Out Winners and Losers, 49ers Still NFL’s Best

After 10 games, the 28-team NFL field has sorted itself out so neatly that all six division races have a clear leader; strengths and weaknesses are well-defined; and the teams with enough youth and depth to withstand key injuries have come to the fore. The playoff contenders are leaving the backstretch, and as New York Giants Coach Bill Parcells said, “Now is when you’ve got to start thinking about the stretch run.”

That goes for NFL writers, too. Here is one man’s analysis of each division and the wild-card situation:

* NFC East -- The Giants should win it. Think of their 31-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams as something comparable to a necessary correction in the stock market. It’s a 16-game season, and the Giants were due for an off game after several weeks of peak performance. Parcells is pushing the right buttons, and the Philadelphia Eagles are two games back and playing poorly on offense. The true measure of the Giants will come in Weeks 12-14 when they play at San Francisco, home against the Eagles and at Denver. The Rams? They will have a tough time winning a divisional playoff game in January at Giants Stadium -- if they get that far.

* NFC Central -- The Minnesota Vikings’ pass rush is on a record-setting pace with 50 sacks, just 22 short of the NFL record set in 1984 by the Chicago Bears. But they still are muddling around on offense, trying to figure out how to use Herschel Walker, and their lone divisional loss was to the Bears. Only one of the Vikings’ six remaining opponents has a losing record, so the Bears still have a shot.

* NFC West -- The 49ers easily are the class of the league and have the best chance of any team to repeat as Super Bowl champs since the 1978-79 Pittsburgh Steelers. They’re determined to prove they can win without former Coach Bill Walsh. His successor, George Seifert, has filled those big shoes, if not the big ego, admirably.

* NFC wild-card situation -- The Bears-Vikings loser in the NFC Central should gain one wild-card berth. The Eagles, Rams and New Orlans Saints will battle for the other spot. The Rams have the most talent, but if the Saints complete a sweep of the season series with the Rams at home in Week 12, they will be in a strong position.

* AFC East -- Buffalo has a rugged schedule, but the Bills’ defense and quarterback Jim Kelly are up to it. Week 15 may provide a Super Bowl preview when the Bills visit the 49ers. The Dolphins have a soft schedule, but Miami is the only team with a winning record that has given up more points than it has scored.

* AFC Central -- Bud Carson’s Cleveland Browns have the No. 1 defense against scoring in the NFL, and they have fashioned an adequate running game with the emergence of rookie running back Eric Metcalf. They are capable of winning the division, but it might go down to the final game of the season at Houston. The Cincinnati Bengals will struggle to finish above .500.

* AFC West -- The Broncos all but clinched it with a win over the Kansas City Chiefs for a three-game lead. They will be tough if they earn the home field advantage throughout the playoffs, especially since former Los Angeles Raiders Coach Mike Shanahan is working with quarterback John Elway again.

* AFC wild-card situation -- The second-place finisher between the Browns and Oilers in the AFC Central will get one spot. The Dolphins have the inside track for the other but may stumble in two games with the Chiefs. If that happens, the Bengals or Raiders could sneak in.

* NFC playoffs -- No one will stop the 49ers, but the Giants have the best chance if they can keep Ottis Anderson and the running game going strong enough to set up Phil Simms’ passing in the playoffs. The Vikings have the talent but seem to lack the chemistry.

* AFC playoffs -- The Bills are the best all-round AFC team, but the sentimental choice, the Browns, will pull off a couple of playoff upsets to reach New Orleans.

* Super Bowl -- The preseason choice here hasn’t changed: 49ers.

Reports from newspapers in Raleigh, N.C., and Atlanta that the New York Jets have contacted Duke Coach Steve Spurrier as a potential replacement for Coach Joe Walton don’t necessarily mean the Jets are ready to make a move. After the 1987 season, they explored the idea of hiring Carl Peterson, who since has become the Chiefs’ president and general manager, but decided against making a change.

Under the circumstances, it will be surprising if the Jets don’t recognize the need for change this time around and if they don’t also research the top NFL assistants, as well as college coaches. Of course, it would help if they had a football man in charge of the search.

No one should question the courage of Jets QB Ken O’Brien because he failed to go headfirst into Dolphins safety Louis Oliver at the goal line in one of the key plays of a 31-23 loss. If things were going well for the Jets and O’Brien, he certainly would have reacted differently. His instinct to avoid the hit showed not a lack of toughness, but rather that O’Brien has taken such a pounding in a 2-8 season that he is like a fighter bobbing and weaving and trying to survive with his back against the ropes.

The search for the “next Lawrence Taylor” is over now that rookie outside linebacker Derrick Thomas has arrived with the Chiefs. He’s stronger against the run than the Bills’ Cornelius Bennett and a more consistent pass rusher. “He’s in that class of player,” Pro Bowl safety Deron Cherry said of Thomas. “They threw him in the fire from the first day. He had to learn or look bad, and he doesn’t like to look bad.”

Eagles QB Randall Cunningham, whose receivers dropped 11 passes in a 10-3 loss to the Washington Redskins, heard boos from the Philadelphia crowd, which is no surprise. “The fans are used to seeing a high-powered offense,” Cunningham said. Hinting he would like to be turned loose to throw more, he added, “I can’t boo.”

Cowboys cornerback Everson Walls, a former Pro Bowl player, said Coach Jimmy Johnson’s plan to give more playing time to Issiac Holt is the first step toward getting rid of Walls. Walls was responsible for giving up a fourth-quarter TD pass in a 24-20 loss to Phoenix, and Johnson shouted at him for talking to his friends on the Cardinals after the game. Said Walls: “He embarrassed me. Only college coaches and Mike Ditka do that ... I guess they’ll Plan B me.”

Detroit Lions Coach Wayne Fontes on his 2-8 team’s 31-22 upset of the Green Bay Packers, who held a 31-8 advantage in first downs and out-gained the Lions 432 yards to 128: “We lost to ... uh ... won against a good football team. I almost slipped there. I’ve gotten used to that word.”