It’s a quarterback driven league. Maybe now more than ever. If you want to contend for a Super Bowl or make the playoffs year after year, it sure helps to have an elite player at that position. This was on display at Arrowhead last week, with Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen going back and forth.
Elsewhere in the AFC, the Bengals have Joe Burrow and the Chargers have Justin Herbert. Those four teams can feel pretty good about how things might play out over the next 10 years.
A good quarterback can help cover up a lot of warts. If you’re trying to sneak by with a modest guy at quarterback, it’s tough for a team to ascend to the Super Bowl level. The Browns, Colts and Titans, most recently, have really good all-around rosters at times, but it would be tough for those teams to lift a Lombardi with Baker Mayfield, Carson Wentz and Ryan Tannehill at quarterback. Most recently, Tannehill’s 3 interceptions were instrumental in the Titans falling at home against the Bengals.
Burrow and Mahomes meet today in the AFC Championship, and those guys aren’t going away anytime soon. They’re 25 and 26 years old. Allen is 25, and Herbert is 23.
Since the merger in 1970, this is just the 9th conference championship game in which neither starting quarterback is older than 26.
| MATCHUPS OF YOUNG GUNS IN CONFERENCE FINALS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Quarterback | Age | Opp | Result | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int |
| 1980 | Vince Ferragamo, LAR | 25 | at T.B. | W 9-0 | 12 | 23 | 163 | 0 | 0 |
| 1980 | Doug Williams, T.B. | 24 | LAR | L 0-9 | 2 | 13 | 12 | 0 | 1 |
| 1985 | Mark Malone, Pitt. | 26 | at Mia. | L 28-45 | 20 | 36 | 312 | 3 | 3 |
| 1985 | Dan Marino, Mia. | 23 | Pitt. | W 45-28 | 21 | 32 | 421 | 4 | 1 |
| 1986 | Tony Eason, N.E. | 26 | at Mia. | W 31-14 | 10 | 12 | 71 | 3 | 0 |
| 1986 | Dan Marino, Mia. | 24 | N.E. | L 14-31 | 20 | 48 | 248 | 2 | 2 |
| 1987 | John Elway, Den. | 26 | at Cle. | W 23-20 | 22 | 38 | 244 | 1 | 1 |
| 1987 | Bernie Kosar, Cle. | 23 | Den. | L 20-23 | 18 | 32 | 259 | 2 | 2 |
| 1997 | Mark Brunell, Jac. | 26 | at N.E. | L 6-20 | 20 | 38 | 190 | 0 | 2 |
| 1997 | Drew Bledsoe, N.E. | 24 | Jac. | W 20-6 | 20 | 33 | 178 | 0 | 1 |
| 2009 | Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 26 | Balt. | W 23-14 | 16 | 33 | 255 | 1 | 0 |
| 2009 | Joe Flacco, Balt. | 24 | at Pitt. | L 14-23 | 13 | 30 | 141 | 0 | 3 |
| 2014 | Colin Kaepernick, S.F. | 26 | at Sea. | L 17-23 | 14 | 24 | 153 | 1 | 2 |
| 2014 | Russell Wilson, Sea. | 25 | S.F. | W 23-17 | 16 | 25 | 215 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 25 | Buff. | W 38-24 | 29 | 38 | 325 | 3 | 0 |
| 2021 | Josh Allen, Buff. | 24 | at K.C. | L 24-38 | 28 | 48 | 287 | 2 | 1 |
| 2020 | Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 26 | Cin. | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 2020 | Joe Burrow, Cin. | 25 | at K.C. | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
—Ian Allan