With no clear Super Bowl favorite emerging so far, much has been made about this NFL season being the ultimate in parity. That neck-and-neck competition also extends to the number of head coaches whose miscues have them vying for the hot seat.

Considering it's only midseason, have we ever had this many in trouble at the halfway mark? The potential body count:

That Wade Phillips now faces the challenge of back-to-back road games against Green Bay and the Giants is simply cruel and unusual punishment.

Mike Shanahan took the biggest credibility hit of his career Sunday when he surmised that Rex Grossman -- yes, Rex Grossman! -- would be better at running a two-minute drill than future Hall of Famer Donovan McNabb. Perhaps he'd also like to sub in Albert Haynesworth at flanker.

Josh McDaniels got Denver off to a 6-0 start last year, but since has gone 4-14, and suddenly looks way too young for the job.

The 0-7 Buffalo Bills are firmly entrenched as the new Detroit Lions after Chan Gailey's defense gave up an average of 6.1 yards every time the Chiefs ran yesterday.

Brad Childress' bad goal-line decision Sunday has him in trouble, but his bigger problem is that there's a zoo-like atmosphere in Minnesota. Maybe he should follow Randy Moss' lead, and only answer questions he asks.

A Charlotte Observer poll still shows surprisingly strong support for letting John Fox finish the season with the Panthers, but 1-6 Carolina has scored only eight touchdowns in seven games. Calvin Johnson and Hakeem Nicks have that many apiece, all by themselves.

There are 7,420 results when one does a Google search on "Mike Singletary" and "head explode," because that's the widespread anticipation of the 49ers coach's ultimate fate, despite Sunday's victory against the woeful Broncos.

And Eric Mangini has had his best two-week run since coming to Cleveland, following up the upset of New Orleans with the safety of a bye week. But the hiatus from his doomsday march will resume Sunday, when the Patriots come to town.

Here's what else is on my lunchtime plate Monday:

. . . Shaquille O'Neal in drag just might be the ultimate blind-date nightmare. And seeing him lip sync a Beyonce tune while showing his feminine side on Halloween only made it worse. Thanks to Larry Brown Sports for ruining my day.

. . . Here's a picture of what Kim Kardashian wore for Halloween, just because.

. . . I love the story about the 7-year-old kid who showed up at the World Series, looking like Ron Washington's dead-on twin. But I wish someone would have asked the youngster whether he would have done the obvious, and started Cliff Lee in Game 4.

. . . Isn't it just a little bit amazing that everyone in Dallas is ready to turn Wade Phillips into compost, but hardly anybody asks the question of whether Jerry Jones should continue as his own GM?

. . . The confusion about who owns the ball the Roger Maris hit for his 60th home run in 1961 is just one more reason to invest your money in something other than sports memorabilia.

. . . The third generation of Mannings is on the way to the NFL, now that Eli's wife is pregnant.

. . . A-Rod's arm candy on The Strip recently was a woman who writes an "adult entertainment column," according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

. . . There's a good collection of jocks' Halloween photos at Ehrl the Pearl, including Dwyane Wade painted up in white face, and Rajon Rondo doing a fine Tiger Woods imitation.

. . . Good line from Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald, after Nebraska's Roy Helu ran for a school-record 307 yards rushing against Missouri: "Helu covered so much ground he's been awarded a letter in cross country."

. . . And an even better line from Charles Barkley, admonishing those who doubted Kevin Durant because he could only bench press 135 pounds: "A basketball is not very heavy."

-- Tom Weir