Fates sealed

Romeo Crennel. Derek Anderson. Phil Savage.

All three of their fates were sealed today. All three have to lose their jobs. And if Randy Lerner is not going to pull the trigger, he has to sell the team. A teetering fan base got shoved over a cliff today.

This team lacks leadership and discipline. The lines of communication aren't open. Players are not giving their all. It starts with Phil Savage. He has done some good work on rebuilding the roster but the Winslow saga and the email exchange are prime examples of Savage's biggest weakness. He is not a leader. He is not a communicator. It is why he was almost let go after one season. The fans saved his job then. It should not be saved now.

Crennel's sins are different. For all his faults, it has been said that at least his players love him and believe in him. Well that is no longer true. He lost one of his most professional players in Jamal Lewis a few weeks ago. It has been said that one of Tom Coughlin's strengths as a coach is that he coaches the top third of his roster. If you believe players fit in three categories. There are the leaders, there are the disgruntled and there are all of the guys in the middle. By making his leaders happy, Coughlin wins over the middle and the disgruntled get left behind. If you coach to the disgruntled, the middle gets lost and joins the bottom instead of the top. By coddling Braylon Edwards, Crennel has lost his middle. Edwards has talent. But his lack of concentration and effort have helped sabotage this season. Quinn's second pick was Edwards fault. Quinn got benched and Edwards got every pass almost the rest of the game from Anderson.

I am not going to say that Quinn played awesome but you didn't see the confusion and the mistakes when he was in there. I don't know if it is just coincidence or he has a leadership style that is different but things are smoother when he is in the huddle. he is the quarterback of the future and the present. Anderson has a gun but he is not a leader. He does not inspire. Crennel in a panic went with Anderson and he got burned.

The problem is now what. What if Cowher got more loyalty to the Rooney family than Lerner has money? I don't know. But what is obvious is that Crennel, Anderson and Savage have left Lerner with no choice but to blow this up.

The three have made the cardinal sin. They have lost the fans.