Vikings vs. Bears: Donovan McNabb's Benching Proves Veteran QB's Career Is over

The Minnesota Vikings had high hopes for the 2011 season once they added veteran quarterback Donovan McNabb, but it has blown up in their face as McNabb has led the Vikings to 1-5. 

The playoffs are far from the Vikings reach because they would need to run the table, and clearly they're not capable of doing that because they have no true leader. 

McNabb wasn't horrible in the Vikings' 39-10 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday night, but he was benched later in the game for rookie QB Christian Ponder because he wasn't doing much to help the team be competitive. 

Despite being pulled, McNabb told Tom Pelissero of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities that he still believes he will be the starter in Minnesota. 

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"I don’t see it ending like this,” McNabb said. “But it’s tough. You’re 1-5 at this particular point. I felt like we did a lot of great things [Sunday]. But I guess we’ll sit down to talk, but I still expect to be in there next week." 

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First year head coach Leslie Frazier said he and the Vikings staff will evaluate things and they'll soon make a big decision. 

Neither McNabb or Ponder threw a touchdown pass last night, which was the main reason McNabb was benched. 

The veteran QB has only thrown four touchdown passes this season, and it's easy to see he is far from the player he once was. 

It's time for the Vikings to move to Ponder because their season is easily over, much like McNabb's career. 

I'll admit, I believed McNabb was going to come in and help make the Vikings competitive because they have a lot of talent on offense, but he's a shell of his former self and has struggled to make the Vikings a decent team.

It's tough to admit when you're wrong, but with McNabb I definitely was. The Vikings need to realize they were wrong as well, and they have to let Ponder develop by being the starter. 

Minnesota invested a lot in Ponder by selecting him No. 12 overall in the last year's draft, and because McNabb is on the downturn of his career the Vikings have to let Ponder learn.