THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Are the Seahawks really this good? We're about to find out

The subject today is football terminology.

No, not that jazzy, pretend-you’re-a-coach stuff like “Cover Zero” or “Seven Route.”

Our present phrase for discussion actually can (and does) apply to far more than football, but when the Seahawks are 5-0 and Russell Wilson looks like the genuine article as an MVP candidate, I mean…

Why would we talk about anything but football?
 And that brings us to our phrase to ponder, which happens to be…

“Regression to the mean.”

Yes, yes, I know that sounds more like something you’d hear addressed in an advanced English class.

Trust me, though, it could mean just about everything to the Seahawks.

Here’s the reason to knock this phrase around…

Seattle may be unbeaten after five games, but some potentially dicey division games are coming up on the schedule.

This likely will be the time when we’ll discover whether the Hawks’ gaudy record is a combination of Wilson’s brilliance, good fortune and their opponents’ genuinely crappy records, or…

Maybe the Seahawks are the real deal.

SCUFFLING through this next part of the schedule wouldn’t necessarily indicate that the Seahawks are dead birds flying.

It would, however, imply that, yes…

Say it with me now: “They will have regressed to the mean.”

In other words, much like last season, they’re a pretty good football team, but the 1972 Dolphins needn’t worry that their precious unbeaten season is in any danger.

Let’s be sensible here.

Seattle’s 5-0 record has been achieved against teams with a combined record of 9-19.

Among that group of unimpressive foes, only New England looks like a potential playoff team — and the Hawks needed an almost-miraculous stop of Cam Newton near the goal line as time expired to survive that one.

Consider this worry…

As poor as that collection of opponents have been, Seattle has made very hard work of teams besides the Patriots.

The most recent get-out-of-jail act came against the struggling Vikings, as Wilson found DK Metcalf for a game-winning TD on fourth down with 15 seconds remaining.

Other bits of excitement occurred in one-touchdown wins against Dallas (backup safety Ryan Neal intercepted a Dak Prescott bomb to clinch it), and Miami, a game which came down to recovering an onside kick as the clincher.

Does all that excitement in the final seconds sound like a powerhouse football team to you?

Of course, optimists in the crowd might take the position that the Seahawks can do whatever’s necessary to win on any given week.

That’s how Wilson looks at it.

WE’RE almost certain to find out over the next few weeks whether the Seahawks have been lucky, opportunistic or good enough to beat anyone.

Beginning next Sunday, Wilson’s theory of “doing whatever it takes” will be tested against the Cardinals, 49ers, Bills, Rams and the Cardinals again.

If the Seahawks are still unbeaten after that run, well…

Naysayers will simply have to shut up and wait for the playoffs.

Or the Super Bowl.

Matter of fact, if Seattle wraps up this five-game gauntlet with, say, an 8-2 record…

We’re probably looking at a division winner — especially if one of those wins comes against the Rams.

Don’t get me wrong here.

Being cold-blooded enough to win in the final seconds of several NFL games means a lot when you get to the business end of your schedule.

Knocking a monster like Newton off his feet when he only needs a yard says plenty about your will to win.

So does Wilson’s ability to convert a couple of scary fourth downs in that 94-yard drive to knock off the Vikings — with his final throw actually deciding the game.

Winning in the clutch is a wonderful habit.

What we need to see now is whether or not that skill is also attached to a really, REALLY good team.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. “Moments, Memories and Madness,” his reminiscences from several decades as a sports journalist, runs each Sunday.

Steve also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball, once per month during the offseason.