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Look - to EVERYONE who is giving me ths crap about how McNabb wasn't down/defenseless/etc.:

Where were you last week when the officials invoked "in the grasp" to force 4th-and-26 on a play when he was on both feet AND able to subsequently throw a ball to James Thrash?

The bottom line is that McNabb was flat on his back, legs sticking up, and Favors threw his full body weight on the back of McNabb's left thigh.

If you disagree with the previous paragraph, watch the replay, as it's not my job to educate you.

Similar plays have happened time and time again, and been concluded with much less dramatic "tackles", without injuries, and, even in some of THOSE cases, with yellow flags and/or fines.

The NFL's application of a whole swath of rules is horribly inconsistent, and anyone who things everything was as it should on that play clearly has a horse in this race.

Time for lunch.

The bottom line is that McNabb was flat on his back, legs sticking up, and Favors threw his full body weight on the back of McNabb's left thigh.

Which is perfectly legal in the NFL:

Digest of Rules

Protection of Passer
1. By interpretation, a pass begins when the passer -- with possession of ball -- starts to bring his hand forward. If ball strikes ground after this action has begun, play is ruled an incomplete pass. If passer loses control of ball prior to his bringing his hand forward, play is ruled a fumble.

2. When a passer is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional movement forward of his arm starts a forward pass. If a defensive player contacts the passer or the ball after forward movement begins, and the ball leaves the passer’s hand, a forward pass is ruled, regardless of where the ball strikes the ground or a player.

3. No defensive player may run into a passer of a legal forward pass after the ball has left his hand (15 yards). The Referee must determine whether opponent had a reasonable chance to stop his momentum during an attempt to block the pass or tackle the passer while he still had the ball.

4. No defensive player who has an unrestricted path to the quarterback may hit him flagrantly in the area of the knee(s) or below when approaching in any direction.

5. Officials are to blow the play dead as soon as the quarterback is clearly in the grasp and control of any tackler, and his safety is in jeopardy.

http://www.nfl.com/fans/rules/protectionofpasser

Didn't see the play, but if a player is down and not touched by an opposing player, he is fair game, especially if he is in the pocket. That said, all the Panther player had to do was touch him. It truly is a judgment call, and depends on which officials you get each week. Had it been the Lions playing, it would have been ruled a muff and the other team would have got the ball.

Yeah, better count the dimpled chads again while you're at it...

Rush dosen't need anybody's permission or approval to express an opinion, be it on politics OR football. And the absolutely pathetic performance of Collinsworthless, Berman, Gumbel, et.al.,(who all made Rush's point for him last night) proves that no special qualifications are needed to be a football commentator, either.

I would also point out, as Rush explained, that the ESPN producers and talent choose the topics and dialogue before the show goes on-air. It was not just Rush speaking unilaterally. Plus, he was encouraged to 'spice it up' a bit by one of the ESPN producers just before the week 4 show.

My gut feeling is that Rush was a little too naive and trusting of the ESPN people from the get-go; thinking it was just a football show. The Tinfoil-hat guy in me senses that Rush was being set up for 'an incident' from the beginning. It seemed the timing of the McNabb flap with the prescription drug revelation was a little too well choreographed.

I'd like Rush to do a Super Bowl play-by-play radio simulcast. I really don't want to listen to Greg Gumbel.

"The bottom line is that McNabb was flat on his back, legs sticking up, and Favors threw his full body weight on the back of McNabb's left thigh.

If you disagree with the previous paragraph, watch the replay, as it's not my job to educate you. "

I've got to disagree here. I think I have now seen the play over a hundred times at various speeds. It was a glancing blow at best with most of the weight landing on the ground. I'm not arguing that it didn't cause an injury, just that his "full body weight" did not land any place but the ground.