THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

Sam Farmer’s NFL rankings and comments

1. St. Louis Defense looked great in Philly.

2. Denver Even losing Ed McCaffrey and Terrell Davis won’t slow this offense.

3. Baltimore Bored by the Bears, Ravens still won by 11.

4. Raiders Jerry Rice is picking up the offense by the day.

5. Indianapolis The Colts have a defense?

6. Miami Dolphins became only the second team to win at Tennessee.

7. New Orleans Yes, the Saints beat Buffalo, but show me more.

8. Tennessee Kearse and Carter got no sacks in opener.

9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers should have beaten the Cowboys by more than four.

10. Philadelphia The Donovan McNabb show needs a bigger cast.

11. Green Bay The big play is back for the Packers.

12. Jacksonville Jaguars have cap problems, but also loads of talent.

13. New York Giants Goal-line stand was nice, but defense yielded 473 yards to Broncos.

14. Minnesota Vikings needed a better showing against Carolina.

15. New York Jets Looked undisciplined in the opener.

16. Kansas City Completed only one pass to a wide receiver against Raiders.

17. San Francisco Has a chance to break Ram jinx this weekend.

18. Pittsburgh More bumbling by Kordell Stewart.

19. San Diego Chargers have a fantastic defense. Redskin had 44 yards rushing.

20. Seattle Big-name players, but where are all the big plays?

21. Detroit Is Ty Detmer the answer?

22. Buffalo Injury to linebacker Sam Cowart is a huge blow.

23. Carolina Can Weinke work his magic a second week?

24. Arizona Atop the NFC East. Now, Cardinals just need to play a game.

25. Atlanta You call that an offensive line?

26. Cincinnati Corey Dillon will be hard-pressed to get 100 yards vs. Ravens.

27. Chicago Lots of intensity, little talent.

28. Washington Jeff George is back, but is that a good thing?

29. Cleveland Browns had every chance for a 1-0 start but blew it.

30. New England Lost to the Bengals. Say no more.

31. Dallas Completed two passes to wide receivers and now No. 1 quarterback is out.