NFL Week 14 Power Rankings: Which Teams Are on the Rise in the Playoff Hunt?

Can you believe it? There's just three more weeks left in the 2011 NFL reason and then it's playoff time. With that being said, we now have an even better idea of what the playoff picture if shaping up to be. 

After Week 13, a few playoff contenders really shined as legitimate playoff teams with key victories. In that spirit, here are three teams that are on the rise in the 2011 playoff hunt. 

New York Jets

A few weeks ago many of you probably labeled the New York Jets dead, but they are far from it. 

The Jets improved to 7-5 after winning their second straight game, a solid 34-19 victory over the Washington Redskins.

Despite being two games behind the New England Patriots in the AFC East, the Jets are now projected as the ninth seed in the playoff picture. 

If the Jets are able to win out, which is possible as they have to face three out of four teams with losing records, they'll finish 2011 with an 11-5 record—which should be good enough to earn themselves a playoff spot. 

Denver Broncos

It's Tebow Time! I say that week after week as Tim Tebow continues winning games for the Denver Broncos.

It's official, the Denver Broncos are the hottest team in football after their impressive 35-32 victory over the Minnesota Vikings—who said that Denver can't score points? 

With that victory, the Broncos now improve to 7-5 and are now in first place in the AFC West with the Oakland Raiders losing. Denver has now won five games in a row and are 6-1 with Tebow as their quarterback.

Tebow was pretty effective Sunday against the Vikings. No. 15 completed 10 of his 15 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns, but only ran for 13 yards on four carries. 

Entering Week 14, the Broncos are white hot and look to knock off the Chicago Bears as they continue to climb higher in the 2011 playoff picture.

Houston Texans

You may be wondering how the Houston Texans may be on the rise when they were already projected as the No. 1 seed entering last week? Well for starters, T.J. Yates proved that he can win in this league as a rookie.

Yates became the first ever North Carolina product quarterback to start an NFL came this past Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons and played pretty well. Yates completed 12 of his 25 passes for 188 yards and one touchdown while not turning the ball over once.

Houston ended up knocking off the Falcons 17-10 as they improve to 9-3, which is tied for best in the AFC. 

Tony Santorsa's Week 14 Power Rankings

1. Green Bay Packers

2. Baltimore Ravens

3. New Orleans Saints

4. San Francisco 49ers

5. New England Patriots

6. Pittsburgh Steelers

7. Houston Texans

8. Denver Broncos

9. New York Jets

10. Atlanta Falcons

11. Dallas Cowboys

12. Detroit Lions

13. Cincinnati Bengals

14. Tennessee Titans

15. New York Giants

16. Oakland Raiders

17. Chicago Bears

18. Buffalo Bills

19. Miami Dolphins

20. San Diego Chargers

21. Arizona Cardinals

22. Seattle Seahawks

23. Carolina Panthers

24. Philadelphia Eagles

25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

26. Kansas City Chiefs

27. Washington Redskins

28. Cleveland Browns

29. Minnesota Vikings

30. Jacksonville Jaguars

31. St. Louis Rams

32. Indianapolis Colts

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