You've always had a really good feel for Oregon/Pac 12 teams and you're not a homer: I definitely respect your opinion. Still, you didn't feel like you were watching two mediocre to bad teams last night? You have to credit UW for being salty on defense, but man it's hard to believe they've gotten so much better after losing all of that NFL talent.
UW's defense is better than it was last year if the first half of the year is any indication.
This is about as good as they could have hoped to have done against their competition so far. Best defense in the league
to this point.
To answer your question: I thought Oregon looked mediocre last night, absolutely. But Oregon's ceiling on offense is really high for the rest of the year. Without Adams they put up 770 rushing yards in two games with basically no threat of a passing game at all. Adams is not the best QB in the country, but he's a significant upgrade over the backups. They have a chance to be really good the rest of the way on offense.
The secondary and linebackers still suck. I still have no hope that the linebackers will be better, but honestly for the secondary there really is no way they can be worse. They're 120th in the country against the pass and have allowed a 22/7 ratio. They are all freshman or first time players now that Daniels and Seisay have been out. Good time for a bye and a small confidence boost against Washington.
My only concern is their (Stanford's) defense: think it's definitely taken a step back compared to where it's been the last few years. Still, it's hard not to see them bulldozing Cal and even Oregon in the running game.
This is what gives Oregon a chance if they happen to be in a position to beat Stanford to maybe pull even in the North. I would much rather face Stanford with a great offense than Stanford with a great defense. Their defense isn't close to the level it was 2/3/4 years ago.
I'm just playing devil's advocate here. Do I think Oregon will do it? No. But I don't think the situation is as bad as it looked after the Utah game, and of all the teams in the Pac-12 they have the best chance to get significantly better as the season goes on.