5 Reasons Why the NFL Is Unpredictable

We see it every year. We make our Super Bowl picks and predict who will win which individual awards prior to opening week.

When we get a better understanding of the league after a couple of weeks into the season, we start to hang our heads and ask ourselves why we didn't see certain events coming.

There are five big events that have taken place this season that have caught as all by surprise. Let me know what you think!

The Bills and Lions Start off Hot

Who thought the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions would have started off the season so well?

The Bills were the last team in the AFC to lose a game and the Lions were the last team to lose a game, other than the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers.

Both the Bills and the Lions are in the top five in the league in points scored.

There is no reason to believe either of these teams will collapse in the second half of the season. Then again, we should expect the unexpected.

The Bills are trying to not fall behind the New England Patriots while the Lions hope other teams can find a way to beat the Packers so they can win their respective divisions.

Kansas City Catches Up in the AFC West Race

Hold on, San Diego. The division is still up for grabs.

After a brutal 0-3 start, the Kansas City Chiefs find themselves at 3-3 with a shot to take the lead in the AFC West if they defeat the San Diego Chargers on Monday Night Football.

Despite losing two Pro Bowl players to a torn ACL, Todd Haley has kept his team on track. Matt Cassel helped construct a three-game winning streak, throwing for five touchdowns and two interceptions throughout the three-game stretch.

It looks like Philip Rivers and the Chargers are going to have to fight for this division in the second half of the season.

The Colts Go Winless Without Peyton Manning

When it was announced that Peyton Manning would miss a majority of the 2011 season, it was expected that the Colts would take a big step back this season. But did anyone think the Colts would actually have an 0-8 record?

Perhaps Manning is the heart and soul of this football team. It is obvious that this team cannot function without him.

Even with Reggie Wayne and Pierre Garcon on the team, Curtis Painter has not been able to play well with two good receivers on the team.

When Manning retires from football in a couple of years, how will the Colts be able to operate? It looks like Andrew Luck would be a great addition to the franchise to keep the team alive during the post-Manning era.

The Saints Go from Domination to Embarrassment in the Span of 1 Week

The New Orleans Saints had two winless teams in back-to-back weeks on their schedule. They were given the golden opportunity to pick up two easy wins.

The Saints handled the Colts with ease, destroying them 62-7. Let's be honest, I am guilty of it as well. I figured that if the Saints blew out the Colts like that, they should beat the St. Louis Rams in a blowout. It's not like any of us expected the Rams to pick up their first victory of the season against a team that came off of a game where they scored 62 points.

It turns out that the Rams did the impossible and shocked the world. How is it possible that the Saints go from beating one winless team by 55 points to lose to a different winless team by 10 points the following week?

This doesn't mean the Saints are a bad team, nor does it mean the Rams are a great team. This is something rare both teams will see this year, but it still shocks the heck out of us.

The Philadelphia Eagles Are Not the Dream Team We Thought They Would Be

Despite blowing out the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, that cannot take away the fact that the Philadelphia Eagles were in last place in the NFC East through the first seven weeks of the season.

With a strong offseason following the end of the lockout, the Eagles were set to blow us away with their powerful team and prove to us that they would be Super Bowl contenders.

So far, the Eagles have been nothing but pretenders. They shouldn't be ruled out of the NFC East race for the second half of the season, but starting the season 1-4 was the last thing on everyone's mind.

At the end of the season, maybe the Eagles will prove that 1-4 start was a fluke by finishing the season as NFC East champions. Maybe they won't.

For now, the Eagles are still under .500, and there are safer bets to make at the mid-point of the season on who will win the Super Bowl.

You can follow Farzin on Twitter @Farzin21