NFL Power Rankings Week 14: Teams Doing a Lot with Little

There are a lot of NFL teams that look good on paper, but thankfully the game is not played on paper. If it were, the Philadelphia Eagles would be the greatest team in the history of anything.

Besides—if the games were played on paper—there wouldn't be any surprises, nor would there be dark-horse contenders, which are basically the teams that are doing a lot with very little.

The presence of teams like these is something that must be cherished. At the very least, they deserve a shoutout every now and again.

Actually, that sounds like a good idea. Here are shoutouts to four teams that are much better than they should be.

New York Jets (No. 13)

The Jets are a team with a lousy quarterback, an up-and-down offensive line, no running game, a high-priced cornerback who just plain sucks and a loudmouth head coach. By all rights, they should be well south of .500.

Amazingly, the Jets are 7-5 and once again in the AFC wild-card chase.

How have the Jets managed to stay in the rice, you ask? 

Truth be told, the Jets are still in the race primarily because they've been able to beat up on some bad teams. That the Jets are even able to do that occasionally amazes me. After all, the Jets are, at best, a mediocre team, and mediocre teams lose to bad teams all the time.

Some people think the Jets are underachieving this year. On the contrary, I think they are overachieving, and that's worth a tip of your cap.

Denver Broncos (No. 8)

And now for a spirited discussion about everybody's favorite NFL team.

My hope is that we're past the point where I have to say that Tim Tebow is not solely responsible for Denver's turnaround. He's definitely a big part of it, but he's certainly not acting alone. Denver's defense has played very well recently, and they're getting key contributions from guys who weren't expected to be key contributors.

No matter which way you spin it, the Broncos are not supposed to be this good.

However, that's just the thing. The Broncos weren't this good earlier in the season. That they are now is a testament to the team as a whole, and to the coaching staff.

And yes, Tebow deserves credit as well. There's no point denying that there's something about him that brings out the best in people.

Houston Texans (No. 7)

The Houston Texans are the Black Knight of the NFL. No matter what kind of horrors are visited upon them, they just won't quit.

Mario Williams has been out for the season since the early goings. Andre Johnson and Arian Foster have both battled hamstring issues. Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart are both gone for the season, which leaves the Texans in the hands of rookie quarterback T.J. Yates.

Mere flesh wounds, apparently.

While there's no denying that the Texans have lost much of their strength, they still have enough strength to win games. Conventional wisdom suggests the Texans will be doomed once the playoffs start, but it wouldn't be that surprising if they kept winning.

San Francisco 49ers (No. 3)

At the start of the season, the 49ers looked like they were ticketed for another season of irrelevance. They just didn't pass the eye test, and one had doubts about how much Jim Harbaugh was going to be able to do.

As it turns out, Harbaugh has been able to do a lot. He's taken a team with a one-dimensional offense and a mediocre quarterback and turned it into one of the best teams in the NFL.

Credit where credit is due, the 49ers do play incredible defense. Even still, it takes more than an incredible defense to achieve a 10-2 record through 12 games. It takes something else.

Whatever that something else is, the 49ers have it.

Zachary D. Rymer's Week 14 Power Rankings

Rank	Team	Record
1	Green Bay Packers	12-0
2	Baltimore Ravens	9-3
3	San Francisco 49ers	10-2
4	New Orleans Saints	9-3
5	Pittsburgh Steelers	9-3
6	New England Patriots	9-3
7	Houston Texans	9-3
8	Denver Broncos	7-5
9	Cincinnati Bengals	7-5
10	Oakland Raiders	7-5
11	Dallas Cowboys	7-5
12	Atlanta Falcons	7-5
13	New York Jets	7-5
14	Detroit Lions	7-5
15	Chicago Bears	7-5
16	Tennessee Titans	7-5
17	New York Giants	6-6
18	Seattle Seahawks	5-7
19	Buffalo Bills	5-7
20	Miami Dolphins	4-8
21	Arizona Cardinals	5-7
22	Carolina Panthers	4-8
23	Washington Redskins	4-8
24	Philadelphia Eagles	4-8
25	Kansas City Chiefs	5-7
26	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	4-8
27	San Diego Chargers	4-7
28	Cleveland Browns	4-8
29	Jacksonville Jaguars	3-8
30	Minnesota Vikings	2-10
31	St. Louis Rams	2-10
32	Indianapolis Colts	0-12