Minnesota Vikings: Does Donovan McNabb Make Vikes Super Bowl Contenders?

There's been a lot of buzz lately surrounding the rumors that the Minnesota Vikings are seriously considering trading for Donovan McNabb.

This would be a serous mistake!

Sure, McNabb has had an impressive career, excluding his one season in Washington.

He has a quarterback rating of 86.5, ranking him 23rd all time in the NFL. During his 11 seasons in Philadelphia he started 142 of 148 regular season games he played. His record in those starts with the Eagles was 92-49-1—an incredible .648 winning percentage. 

McNabb led the Eagles to the playoffs eight different seasons, taking his team to the NFC Championship game five times—four consecutively from 2001 to 2004.

In 2004 McNabb led the Eagles to a 13-3 record and a berth in Super Bowl XXXVIX. The Eagles would make it a close game, as Tom Brady and the New England Patriots would win 27-24 and repeat as Super Bowl champions.

Absolutely, there can be no debate that McNabb, a six-time Pro Bowl selection and the Eagles all-time leading passer, is a great quarterback. His 32,873 passing yards, 216 touchdowns and 148 games are all tops among Philadelphia quarterbacks. 

Yet, if people believe that he can lead the Minnesota Vikings to the Super Bowl in 2011, they're delusional.

Here are seven reasons why Donovan McNabb will not return the Vikings to Super Bowl glory.

The Vikings Have Too Many Holes to Fill

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FOXBORO, MA - OCTOBER 31: Brett Favre #4 of the Minnesota Vikings is aided by teammate Adrian Peterson #28 after Favre was hit by Myron Pryor #91 of the New England Patriots in the fourth quarter at Gillette Stadium on October 31, 2010 in Foxboro, Massac

While many Vikings fans want to vilify Brett Favre and blame him for the collapse of 2010, one player cannot take a 12-4 team and turn it into a 6-10 team.

In the same way one player cannot take a 6-10 team and turn them into a Super Bowl contender.

The Vikings have many deficiencies that need to be addressed for 2011.

If they fail to resign Sidney Rice, wide receiver will be one of their biggest holes, but they need to reinforce the offensive line that ended the season battered. They need help in the defensive backfield and linebacker position as well.

The window of opportunity for the Vikings is closed. The truth is the Vikings are not just a playoff experienced quarterback away from the Super Bowl like they were in 2008 when they signed Brett Favre to take over in 2009.

The Improvement Needed Would Be Historic

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30 Jan 2000: Tom Nutten #61, Az-Zahir Hakim #81 And Dre Bly #32 Of The St Louis Rams Celebrate With Isaac Bruce #80 After His Game-Winning Touchdown In The Fourth Quarter Of Super Bowl Xxxiv Between The St Louis Rams And Tennessee Titans At The Georgia Do

Teams that make it to the Super Bowl are typically consistent winners.

Since the NFL season expanded to a 16-game schedule in 1978, only five teams have even made it to the Super Bowl after winning only six games the previous season—that's only 7.5 percent of the time.

The Super Bowl champion averaged 12.5 wins, while the loser averaged 12.

The Super Bowl winning team improved the number of wins from the previous season by only 2.2 games.

The runner-up was slightly better, averaging 2.4 wins more than the previous season.

The Vikings would need to improve their 2010 record by six games to finish with at least 12 wins.

The last team to win the Super Bowl after winning six or fewer games their previous season was the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV. In 1999, the Rams won the Super Bowl after going 13-3 in the regular season, while the previous year they finished a lowly 4-12—a nine-game improvement.

If the past 33 years are any indication, the odds are against Minnesota of repeating a similar feat.

The Clock Is Ticking: Donovan McNabb's Age Is Against Him

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31 Jan 1999: John Elway #7 of the Denver Broncos holds up the trophy after the Superbowl XXXIII against the Atlanta Falcons at the Pro Player Stadium in Miami, Florida. The Broncos defeated the Falcons 34-19. Mandatory Credit: Andy Lyons /Allsport

Donovan McNabb will turn 35 this November.

For the 12-year veteran, the chance of winning a Super Bowl is quickly fading away.

In the history of the Super Bowl, only nine quarterbacks over the age of 35 have ever played in the game, and of those nine, only five have been victorious. If you take into account John Elway's back-to-back wins at the age of 37 and 38, the number drops to four different quarterbacks.

That's four of 90 quarterbacks—only 4.4 percent of the quarterbacks to win a Super Bowl were over the age of 35. The last time this occurred was following the 1998 season.

Defense Wins Championships

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MINNEAPOLIS - OCTOBER 05: Defensive end Jared Allen #69 of the Minnesota Vikings pumps up the crowd during the Monday Night Football game against the Green Bay Packers on October 5, 2009 at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo

While many Green Bay fans will tout the exploits of quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and credit him for the Packers fourth Super Bowl victory, the second-ranked Packer defense in points allowed should be given equal credit. 

Since 2000, the defense of the Super Bowl-winning team has averaged seventh in the league in points allowed. Only three times over that span has the team been ranked lower than 15th in the league.

For the Minnesota Vikings, it has been 13 years since their defense has been ranked as one of the top 10 stingiest in points allowed.

Since 1992, the Minnesota defense has an average rank of 17th.

While the Vikings desperately need a quarterback, it will take some beefing up of the defense to make this team a Super Bowl contender. 

McNabb: No More Success Than Favre, George, Cunningham, Moon or McMahon

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17 Jan 1999: Randall Cunningham #7 of the Minnesota Vikings throws during the NFC Championship Game against the Atlanta Falcons at the H. H. H. Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Falcons defeated the Vikings 30-27. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Stockma

So the Vikings are thinking of bringing in a veteran quarterback to lead the team to the promised land. This is a strategy that has been tried repeatedly with minimal success.

In 1993, the Vikings signed Super Bowl winner Jim McMahon as their quarterback. The 34-year-old started 12 games that season, winning eight and leading the 9-7 Vikings to a playoff berth—a 17-10 loss at New York in the Wild Card playoff game.

The following year they would sign 10-year veteran Warren Moon as their quarterback. The 38-year-old Moon would lead the Vikings to a 10-6 record and a division title. However, they would be upset by the Chicago Bears at home 35-18 in the first round of the playoffs. 

In 1995, Moon would lead Minnesota to an 8-8 record and they would miss the playoffs. By midseason of 1996, Moon would be replaced by Brad Johnson. 

For his three seasons in Minnesota, Moon's record would be 21-18 without even a single playoff win.

In 1998, the Vikings would sign veteran quarterback Randall Cunningham to back up Johnson. The 35-year-old Cunningham would take over in Week 3 for an injured Johnson and went on to win 13 of 14 starts as the Vikings would finish the season 15-1.

Even with the Vikings defense ranked in the top 10 for points allowed, Cunningham was unable to take the Vikings beyond the threshold of the Super Bowl with a loss to the Atlanta Falcons in overtime at the Metrodome. 

In 1999, Brad Johnson was traded away and Cunningham was named the starter. By the middle of the season, Cunningham was benched in favor of another veteran retread—Jeff George.

George would only last 10 starts for the Vikings in the 1999 season before moving on in favor of second-year quarterback Daunte Culpepper in 2000.

The recent exploits of the Brett Favre experiment reflect those of Cunningham's. Like Cunningham, Farve was able to take the Vikings to within one game of the Super Bowl, only to lose in overtime to the New Orleans Saints.

And, like Cunningham, Favre's second season with Minnesota proved to be even more disastrous.

With this history, why would anyone think that Donovan McNabb would fare any better?

Changing Teams Doesn't Produce Immediate Results

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MIAMI GARDENS, FL - FEBRUARY 07: Quarterback Drew Brees #9 of the New Orleans Saints lifts the Vince Lombardi trophy after his team defeated the Indianapolis Colts during Super Bowl XLIV on February 7, 2010 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

In the history of the Super Bowl, only seven quarterbacks have ever won the game for a team other than the one they started their career with.

On average, it took 3.8 seasons to lead their new team to a Super Bowl win. The last to do it was Drew Brees in 2009 for the Saints—his fourth year in New Orleans.

Only once has a quarterback been able to win the Super Bowl in the first year with his new team. In 2000, Trent Dilfer would start eight games for the Ravens, going 7-1 and leading Baltimore to the Super Bowl. Dilfer had a lot of help as the Ravens defense was ranked first in the league and is often mentioned as one of the best in NFL history. This would be Dilfer's only season to play for the Ravens.

Donovan McNabb Has Not Been Able to Win the Big Game

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Philadelphia Eagle's QB Donovan McNabb gets past New England Patriot Tedy Bruschi #54 during the first quarter of Super Bowl XXXIX between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots (Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

Donovan McNabb has a great regular season record, winning 62.6 percent of the games he's started with an 85.7 quarterback rating and a two-to-one touchdown to interception ratio. 

However, those numbers fall off when the pressure ratchets up. In five NFC Championship appearances, McNabb has a 72.2 quarterback rating, throwing six touchdowns and six interceptions. 

While much more is needed than a good quarterback to win a championship, the play of that quarterback in the big can can determine the output almost more than any other single player. With perhaps the role of the kicker when the game is on the line as an exception, no single player is more scrutinized than the quarterback.

In many cases, the numbers are deceiving and you can throw most of them out except for one: 1-4 in the NFC Championship game.

Winners find a way to will their team to victory, something I don't believe McNabb could do for the Vikings.

McNabb was not successful with the 6-10 Washington Redskins and was benched in favor of Rex Grossman. How will he be able to succeed with a 6-10 Vikings team?