The NFL season has officially reached its halfway point, and unlike some years past, the picture remains very muddled. Would-be contenders have yet to fully find their footing. Projected contenders find themselves on roller-coaster campaigns. Early surprise squads still are working hard to earn credibility.

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The only thing that’s certain: The remaining eight weeks of the regular season will feature all kinds of twists and turns. But first, here’s a look at what we’ve learned, teams and players to keep an eye on, and a couple of predictions on how things will play out in the next eight weeks.

Lessons learned

There are no dominant teams this year

Sure, we still tend to hold teams like the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles in higher regard. But none of those four own the commanding advantages over the rest of the league as they have in previous years. All have faltered at points during the first half of the season.

After 4-0 starts, the Eagles and Bills both experienced two-game losing streaks and showcased weaknesses that opponents can exploit. Philadelphia has all the key pieces back from last season yet can’t quite figure out its identity or how to attack with any consistency. The Bills struggle against the run defensively and have lacked a dynamic offensive option to help Josh Allen put games away.

The Chiefs got off to a slow start and have shown signs of rebounding to an elite level. But issues remain both along their offensive and defensive fronts, and they can’t run the ball with the effectiveness they need. After years of dominating in the clutch, Kansas City is 0-4 in one-score games.