NFL Power Rankings Week 14: Teams That Will Be Overlooked in Playoffs

There are only four weeks left in the 2011 NFL regular season.

Yup, we've come that far already. Hard to believe.

No point looking back, though. The playoffs are going to be here in no time, and many things still need to be decided in the final four weeks of the season. Let's look ahead instead.

In looking ahead to the postseason, it's clear now that some teams are going to get more attention than others. The defending champion Green Bay Packers are bound to get a lot of love, and so will big-market teams like the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots.

Some teams, however, won't get enough love. Let's identify four of them right now and see if we can't get a little groundswell going. 

Detroit Lions (No. 14)

Yup, I'm calling it right now that the Lions are going to be able to sneak into the playoffs. The Chicago Bears are due for a rough finish, and I think the Lions are going to be just good enough to sneak into the NFC playoffs as the conference's No. 6 seed.

When the Lions do secure a playoff berth, there will be some chatter about them being a cute story, but few people are going to give them a chance to actually win anything. 

I'll be inclined to give the Lions a little more credit. They definitely have issues, chief among them being immaturity and a lack of discipline, but the Lions definitely won't be lacking in talent. At full strength, their defense is halfway decent, and their offense can be dangerous when Matthew Stafford gets hot.

Will the Lions actually go anywhere? Honestly, I don't think they will. However, I don't think they're going to be entirely hopeless either.

They have enough talent to hang with anybody, and we shouldn't forget that the Lions had a knack for mounting comebacks earlier in the season. They're going to be tough team to beat.

Oakland Raiders (No. 10)

A lot of chips are going to have to fall in a lot of places for the Raiders to make the playoffs. But I've crunched the numbers and done a few projections, and I think both the Raiders and the Denver Broncos are going to make the postseason.

If so, the Broncos are going to be the ones getting all the love because of what they've been able to do under Tim Tebow. He's the darling of the NFL right now, and the hype is not dying down any time soon.

But I'll argue that the Raiders are going to be the more dangerous team. They're going to get healthier in the final weeks of the season, and they're going to be a tough team to handle if they go into the playoffs with a healthy Darren McFadden and a complete corps of wide receivers.

Make no mistake, when at full strength, Oakland's offense is elite. The Raiders are going to need some luck to advance in the playoffs, but they have enough firepower to get the job done.

Houston Texans (No. 7)

While I have no doubt that the Texans are going to get plenty of media coverage, I highly doubt anybody is going to take them seriously as a Super Bowl contender.

This will have everything to do with Houston's injury issues. Mario Williams is gone for the season, and so are Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart. Given his hamstring issues, Andre Johnson may be on the shelf as well.

Without these weapons in place, the Texans are going to be staring a quick exit in the face.

What people will forget, and indeed what many people haven't yet realized, is that the Texans may have the best defense in the NFL. They rank No. 4 against both the pass and the run, and they're allowing an AFC-low 15.8 points per game.

Furthermore, the Texans have arguably the league's most dangerous rushing attack.

It's not going to be easy, but the Texans can win with these things.

San Francisco 49ers (No. 3)

When the NFC playoffs begin, the Packers are going to be the overwhelming favorite to emerge from the conference and go back to the Super Bowl. After them, you can expect many people to jump on the New Orleans Saints' bandwagon.

The 49ers, on the other hand, will be viewed as a team with too much defense and not enough offense. Against the Packers and Saints, they will surely be doomed.

I'm not about to pick the 49ers to go to the Super Bowl, but they will be a legit threat. They're not going to beat anybody in a shootout, but their defense and rushing attack make them dangerous. This will be particularly true if the 49ers find themselves in a cold-weather game (hint: Lambeau Field).

If I had to guess, I'd say the 49ers are probably hoping that people are overlooking them at the start of the playoffs. They haven't gotten enough credit this entire season, and it's working out so far.

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	San Diego Chargers	5-7
27	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	4-8
28	Cleveland Browns	4-8
29	Jacksonville Jaguars	3-9
30	Minnesota Vikings	2-10
31	St. Louis Rams	2-10
32	Indianapolis Colts	0-12