"Heat no longer describes it. Whenever Bucs fans talk about Raheem Morris these days, they are pointing flamethrowers.

Also, the noise is loud, and the discontent is widespread, and the impatience is growing. If the fever gets any hotter, the waters of Tampa Bay might boil.

Ah, but enough about Raheem.

What about general manager Mark Dominik?

This is one more thing we do not know from the ever-speechless Glazers, or from the mostly mute Dominik himself, or from anyone else in the Fortress of Silence, where no one ranked higher than the coaches speaks out loud about anything. Are Dominik and Morris tied together in this mess? If one is fired, is the other? Or does one get to outlast the other?

The last regime, as you might remember, was more or less a partnership. Bruce Allen was the designated general manager of Jon Gruden, and when one was shoved out the door, the other was doomed to the same fate. There was no Allen without Gruden and no Gruden without Allen. They were Starsky and Hutch, and their show was canceled together.

This time, we do not know. There is a feeling Morris and Dominik are not necessarily partners, just two men who ascended to their jobs at the same time. There is an argument they should go out that way, too, but this time, a shared fate does not seem to be a foregone conclusion.

Ah, but should it be? Ask yourself: How culpable is Dominik when it comes to a franchise stuck in the mud? How much of this disappointment is on the front office, and how much is on the coaching? Hasn't Dominik lost seven in a row, too?

Judging a general manager's share of the blame is a complicated equation. It is easy to decide about coaches because the standings tell you most of what you need to know. The lack of discipline, the lack of improvement and the absence of belief that things are going to get better tell you the rest."