FanHouse MikeMularkey

I wouldn't blame Romeo Crennel if he just went through the motions for the next month; after a promising 10-win campaign a year ago, and all the preseason hype this summer, the Browns are 4-8 and one of the most disappointing teams of 2008.

According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, it'll take an act of God to keep Crennel in Cleveland after Dec. 28, the Browns' final regular season game. Specifically, Mort gazes into the ol' eight ball and surmises that, according to sources, "Crennel will need a miracle finish to save his own job." You don't say.

The big guy has the support of his players, but the same can't be said for general manager Phil Savage, who sorta sold Crennel down the river earlier this week.

As to Crennel's possible replacements, ESPN.com cites Bill Cowher, Marty Schottenheimer, and coordinators like the Jets' Brian Schottenheimer, the Giants' Steve Spagnuolo, the Titans' Jim Schwartz, the Falcons' Mike Mularkey and the Ravens' Rex Ryan.

I think it might've been easier to just tick off the guys the Browns aren't considering.

If you're a Steelers fan, there weren't many highlights from today's loss to the Jaguars. One thing that has been missing is this season have been the gadget plays, long a staple under offensive coordinators Mike Mularkey and Ken Whisenhunt.

First-year coordinator Bruce Arians has admitted to being a big proponent of the passing game, but until today, he's shied away from the 'Trickeration' portion of the playbook. (Although some might point out that last week's 4th-and-goal end around to Hines Ward that came up short was pretty goofy. Agreed.)

Anyway, after the Steelers cut the Jags lead to two points with just over five minutes to go in the game, they went for two. Enter wide receiver Cedrick Wilson, All State high school quarterback. I feel confident in writing that Wilson has a better arm than Chad Pennington and Tommy Maddox put together. It's that good. It's just too bad that wasn't an eight-point conversion.

The past few days, FanHouse noted that Dolphins' tight end coach Mike Mularkey had assumed the play-calling duties during the Jets game. Since Miami is winless this season, you know how that experiment went, but here's the thing: first-year head coach Cam Cameron had been calling the plays the previous 11 weeks.

And now, after conflicting reports, Cameron's not willing to concede that he granted Mularkey the job.

''It's a collective effort,'' Cameron said when initially asked about Mularkey's new responsibilities. ``I can't, at any time in my coaching career, remember where I called every play.''

But three minutes later, during another response on the topic, Cameron said, ``There is not a magic play-caller here other than me. I'm the guy that calls the plays and is accountable to the plays that are called.''

Weird. According to the Miami Herald's Jeff Darlington, multiple sources reiterated yesterday that Mularkey did call the plays against the Jets.

At 0-12, this seems like an odd battle to fight. Sure, Cameron's background is as an offensive coordinator, and to acknowledge that he can't even do that would be tantamount to admitting failure, perhaps. But as Don Shula pointed out, the head coach has a lot more to do than just game plan, and adding that responsibility to the job description usually ends badly.

To Cameron's credit, the offense has outperformed the defense this season, despite losing Ronnie Brown and recycling through three quarterbacks. It's not much, but what do you want, the Dolphins haven't won a game since 2006.

One thing former Dolphins head coach Don Shula isn't offering current Dolphins head coach Cam Cameron is a vote of confidence. But luckily, the Hall of Famer is willing to dispense some free advice on how Cameron can turn things around in Miami: let somebody else call the offensive plays.

Cameron came to Miami after successfully serving at the Chargers offensive coordinator, and he retains that job with the Dolphins. Apparently, tight ends coach Mike Mularkey took over the chore during last Sunday's loss to the Jets, so that either means that a) Shula's advice is worthless, or b) Mularkey's play-calling is.

Shula has a couple of Super Bowl rings, and Mularkey bombed as the Bills' head coach a few seasons ago. I'll go with the latter.

Despite Marty Schottenheimer calling Cameron a "great offensive coach and great play-caller," Shula makes a good point about why it's smart to delegate that job to somebody else on the coaching staff (not named Mularkey):

"In your preparation, if you're a play-caller, you have to be thinking all offense to get ready for what's going to happen. If you're the head coach, you have to be the head coach of the entire team -- not just head coach of the offense. I hope he goes in that direction to entrust some of the play-calling to whoever he believes it should be.''

Somebody should show these comments to Brian Billick.