5 Thoughts for November 2, 2015 (all about football)

1. Russell Wilson kept Seattle's season alive and pulled out another late 4th quarter drive to help win the game. The only thing I'm asking myself, is why can't the team operate at this high level of competition during the rest of the game? They're right in the middle of the NFL in 3-and-out percentages (21.59%), and that's okay if you've got a great point differential (see next item) as it shows that you can score a touchdown on any given series, but not so good if your record is 4-4.
2. New England (+116) and Arizona (+110) have, by a wide margin, the largest point differential (points scored - points allowed). The difference between NE and the next best AFC team in PA (Cincy) is 50 points. The difference between Arizona and the next best NFC team in PA (Carolina) is 58 points. At the midway point in the NFL season, NE and Arizona look to be the odds-on favorite to play in the Super Bowl. Where is Seattle? They're 8th best in the NFL, but at a very paltry +27 margin. For reference, at this point in the season Seattle was +28 in 2014, +60 in 2013, +10 in 2012. Except for Pete Carroll's first year, Seattle's always done better in the second half of the season; unless Seattle steps it up dramatically, it's not looking good for Seattle to make it to the Super Bowl.
3. Clay Helton is showing that he really isn't like Sark. Against Cal, USC once again made heavy use of the fullbacks, and was strongly committed to the run game. This was exceptionally notable late in the fourth quarter, as Helton's offense ran the ball on 3rd downs instead of passing, seemingly used to build up the confidence of the offensive line. If given the choice between Clay's Warriors and Sark's Finesse, I think most people would choose Clay's Warriors, and if he wins out, there will undoubtedly be pressure to hire him. Having been in the program for 6 years, Helton is a Trojan.
4. While the USC defense continues to get better, it's still lacking in sacks, currently at 8th best in sacks per game in the PAC-12. And while the offensive line shows big improvements in run-game blocking -- seemingly as a result of replacements being inserted -- they're still 9th in the PAC-12 in sacks allowed. The linemen remind me a lot of Seattle Seahawks' problems on both sides of the trenches, actually.
5. Norm Chow has failed as a head coach, fired by University of Hawaii's AD on Sunday. You knew it was eventually coming, after posting a 2 - 7 record, but especially after losing at home to Air Force, in a nearly empty stadium, 7 - 58, with that sole touchdown coming with just 5 minutes left in the game. Why fire Chow in the middle of the season? Well, after losing his 7th game, the team wasn't going to make it to a bowl game and Chow would be fired, but that 7 - 58 loss at home, in front of just 22K people (less than half-capacity), was a big embarrassment and a sign that the team had basically quit. No one expected them to beat Air Force (AF was favored by 7.5), but this 51 point drubbing was the second time this season Hawaii was beaten by more than 50 points (0 - 55 loss at Boise State), and was the worst loss at home in UH's history. Chow made his name as an offensive coordinator, but his UH offense averaged just 16 points per game in 9 games. And NO, Chow is not going to be a contender for head coach at USC.