By Lynn Saternow

Herald Sports Editor

I ALMOST FEEL bad for Romeo Crennel. He seems like a nice person. But as a head coach ... Yuck!

Crennel appears to be another one of those great assistant coaches who couldn’t adapt to the role as head coach. Then again, maybe that’s just what happens when you are the coach of the ill-fated Cleveland Browns.

Bill Belichick was certainly nothing special when he was head coach of the Browns.

He had been a great assistant with Bill Parcells, but flopped with Cleveland. However, after he and the Browns left town, he developed into one of the top head coaches in history with the New England Patriots.

The Browns loss to Houston last weekend was one of the worst performances in the team’s history. Believe me, I’ve watched a lot of bad ones. It’s apparent that Crennel can’t get this team to play for him. And to pull Brady Quinn and put in Derek Anderson? In the eyes of the fans, that ranked right up there with Belichick benching Bernie Kosar for Vinnie Testeverde for gosh sakes.

Now Quinn is out for the year. Reportedly it’s because they don’t want to damage the tendon on his broken finger any further. And if you believe that one ...

To me it seems they are simply avoiding a quarterback controversy and hoping Anderson will play well enough in the final games to up his trade value. It’s a shame because Quinn could have used the experience of the last few games.

As far as I’m concerned the season is over for Cleveland. I will avoid frustration, catch up on some book reading, and won’t watch another game except possibly Pittsburgh.

Today the Browns face Indianapolis. It’s a game that you would have figured the Browns would be up for after Indy laid down last year against Tennessee and the Titans went to the playoffs instead of Cleveland.

Forget it. Indy is on a roll and Peyton Manning will throttle the pathetic Browns d-backs, 30-10.

Pittsburgh goes up against the Patriots and the aforementioned Belichick who has owned the Steelers the last few years. Pittsburgh is banged up and will have a tough time in this one. Matt Cassel has done a phenomenal job in place of Tom Brady as QB of the Pats. Even though he hasn’t faced a defense as good as the Steelers, he’ll get the job done as New England prevails, 13-9.

Last week my picks went 8-7 for a season mark of 87-84. I plan to bolster my record this week by giving you these Thanksgiving winners — Dallas, Philadelphia and Tennessee. (Oh, those games are over. Rats!)