THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

SAM FARMER’S NFL RANKINGS WITH COMMENTS

1 Oakland (6-1) Good thing hobbled Raiders are so deep.

2 St. Louis (6-1) Marshall Faulk comes back this week.

3 Miami (5-2) Lamar Smith is overdue.

4 Green Bay (5-2) Brett Favre owns Soldier Field.

5 Chicago (6-1) Any miracles left?

6 Baltimore (5-3) Shannon Sharpe is bound for the record books.

7 San Francisco (5-2) Ground game and pass rush are making strides.

8 San Diego (5-3) Loss to Chiefs was an embarrassing blip.

9 Pittsburgh (5-2) A field goal would be nice.

10 Philadelphia (4-3) They have the backs, why not use them?

11 Cleveland (4-3) Heartbroken in Chicago.

12 Denver (4-4) Beating San Diego could be big morale boost.

13 New York Jets (5-3) Most reliable weapon by far: Curtis Martin.

14 New Orleans (4-3) Turley tantrum was painful to watch.

15 Indianapolis (4-3) Edgerrin James is out. Again.

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

17 New England (4-4) Tom Brady gets more comfortable by the week.

18 Tampa Bay (3-4) Flickering ground game is unreliable.

19 Cincinnati (4-3) Corey Dillon is alternately unstoppable and invisible.

20 Atlanta (3-4) Nitro meets glycerin, and that’s just in the stands.

21 Minnesota (3-4) Somebody muzzle Cris Carter.

22 Seattle (3-4) Hard to pass with no receivers.

23 Tennessee (3-4) Wither Eddie George?

24 Washington (3-5) Do not adjust your picture.

25 Arizona (2-5) Cardinals have combined for 10 points in last two games.

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

27 Kansas City (2-6) Trent Green looked good down the stretch vs. Chargers.

28 Dallas (2-5) The Ryan Leaf era begins Sunday.

29 Buffalo (1-6) Rob Johnson still groping for his groove.

30 Carolina (1-7) Maybe Jim Harbaugh can help.

31 Detroit (0-7) Time to try out that rookie QB.