Limbaugh's comments bring on discussion

From the very start, putting Rush Limbaugh on the sports desk on ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown was a risky decision.

Sports fans and political adversaries knew it was only a matter of time before Rush pulled the ol' "open mouth, insert foot" routine.

Sure enough, four weeks into the season, it happened.

Forget the fact that he raised the race card and filed Donovan McNabb under the "black quarterback" tab.

Forget his claim that the media wants him to succeed because he is black.

Instead, let's just look at the only legitimate point -- that McNabb could be an overrated quarterback.

Yes, McNabb has more playoff wins (4) than, say, Peyton Manning (0) and Daunte Culpepper (1). His leadership ability is not at question here.

However, McNabb is not you're prototypical quarterback, he's more of an athlete. He can get the job done with his arm or his feet. Culpepper does the same thing up in Minnesota.

If you look at the stats, Culpepper has the better arm, and could be the balance between Manning and McNabb.

Here is how the three compare since 1999.

Player Name (Games) Att. Comp. Yds. TDs

McNabb (57) 1750 987 10,341 71

Culpepper (46) 1458 907 10,916 70

Manning (64) 2364 1505 17,793 121

*stats from nfl.com

Okay, so Manning has more passing yards and has more touchdowns. The fact he's played more games during that time is not of consequence, because he has to pass, that's his only option.

If you look at Culpepper's numbers, he has almost as many completions on less attempts in 11 fewer games than McNabb.

McNabb only has a one touchdown lead in the air.

It's obvious the Colts have the best passing quarterback of the three, but McNabb and Culpepper can take off at any time.

Here's a look at their stats on the ground.

Player Name Yds. TDs

McNabb 2040 14

Culpepper 1584 24

*stats from nfl.com

It can be argued that Culpepper calls his own number for touchdowns more than McNabb, but again McNabb isn't that far ahead on rushing yards.

Culpepper is averaging nearly 34 yards on the ground per game, and if you give him the 11 games McNabb has on him, he'd bring number even closer.

So, maybe, McNabb has more hype than he deserves when compared to both a stationary quarterback and another mobile quarterback.

While his athleticism is unquestioned and his leadership can't be denied, and although he's started out slow this season, you can still expect big numbers on the field and in your fantasy league.

Just some food for thought.