There's a common theme among the four teams that are playing in this weekend's conference championship games. Each team is led by a quarterback that is under the age of 30, a fact that isn't lost on Drew Brees, a former Super Bowl MVP and future Hall of Fame quarterback.
Patrick Mahomes (29), Josh Allen (28), Jalen Hurts (26) and Jayden Daniels (24) represent the NFL's new era of quarterbacks who have seamlessly taken the baton from Brees and the other great passers from his era.
"It's funny to sit here and say that Mahomes is the crafty veteran of this group," Brees said during a one-on-one interview with CBS Sports. "He's not even 30 years old. ... It gets you excited about the future of this league and the quarterbacks that are all making a run at it."
Mahomes will making his seventh consecutive AFC Championship game start on Sunday when the Chiefs face the Bills and Allen, who will make his second start in a conference title game. Hurts is also making his second start in a conference title game after helping lead the Eagles to the Super Bowl two years ago. Daniels, who has spearheaded the Commanders' resurgence this season, is trying to become the first rookie starting quarterback in NFL history to lead his team to the big game.
History is not on Daniels' side, however, as the five previous rookies to start in a conference title game all lost. Brees, though, doesn't think that Daniels' youth is necessarily a bad thing. In fact, Brees feels that Daniels' youth may actually be a benefit for both him and the Commanders on Sunday.
"For a guy like Jayden, here he is as a rookie, he doesn't know how rare this moment is, you know?" Brees said. "I mean, he may have a 18-year career and only make it to three or four conference championship games. ... I think the young guys, a lot of times, you're just kind of wheeling a dealing and you're like, we're going to do this every year.
"The later you get in your career, you recognize all that needs to come together in order for you to have those types of seasons. You've got to catch some breaks along the way. You've got to stay healthy. I feel like the younger you are, maybe you play a bit more loose, just because you don't know any better. The older you are, it just becomes a bit more focused, because you recognize just how unique it is."
This season, Daniels has exuded a poise and a focus beyond this years, especially when it comes to taking care of the ball. He threw just nine interceptions during the regular season and did not throw one during Washington's first two playoff games. In the Commanders' playoff wins over the Buccaneers and Lions, Daniels completed 69.7% of his passes for 567 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for 87 yards and was sacked just one time.
Daniels came up big in the clutch in both games, too. Against Tampa Bay, Daniels threw the game-tying touchdown pass (on a fourth-down play, no less) before operating the Commanders' game-winning drive in overtime. A week later in Detroit, Daniels completed a 12-yard dart to Terry McLaurin (who caught the game-tying touchdown from Daniels a week earlier) on a fourth-and-2 play that set up the Commanders' final touchdown.
As noted earlier, both Daniels and Allen will be facing two quarterbacks who have been here before. In Allen's case, he will be facing a three-time Super Bowl MVP who has already beaten him three times in the playoffs. Brees compared the Bills-Chiefs rivalry to the legendary Bills-Pistons rivalry in the NBA in the late '80s/early '90s. Detroit defeated Chicago in the playoffs three consecutive years before the Michael Jordan-led Bulls finally broke trough in 1991, sweeping Detroit in four games in the conference finals en route to winning the first of six NBA titles over an eight-year span.
During his Super Bowl run, Brees faced three future Hall of Fame quarterbacks in Kurt Warner, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning. Those opponents appeared to bring out the best in Brees, who completed 70.6% of his throws while throwing eight touchdowns and no picks during the Saints' successful playoff run.
Brees said that each quarterback playing this weekend will need to find a balance between focusing on his job while also being cognizant of what the other offense -- and quarterback --are capable of doing.
"You certainly recognize the fact that your execution needs to be at the highest level," Brees said. "You don't control what happens on the other side of the ball. You're focused on your offense, your execution.
"At the same time, I knew going into those games against a Tom Brady or a Peyton Manning or an Aaron Rodgers or any of those, like, man, I need to be near flawless. That's not pressure, that's responsibility. Like, I need to be near flawless, put everybody in a great position to succeed, recognize how I can help our defense.
"One of the things I could do is possess the ball, because that keeps the other guy off the field. He's trying to do the same thing, right? At the end of the day, you know that those games are going to go the fourth quarter. You know it's going to come down to a drive, a play, whatever it is. And you just sit there and recite that moment over and over again in your mind, so that when the moment does come, it's not too big, and in fact, you've already executed it in your mind so many times as if it's already happened. You've already seen it happen, you've already felt it happen, and now you just you can relax and go play."
Brees is looking forward to watching how each quarterback plays this weekend. He'll be sharing the experience with Bounty, whom he has partnered up with while joining four-time Super Bowl champion and future Hall of Fame tight end Rob Gronkowski.
"You can't have football without wings, and you can't have wings without bounty," Brees said. "That's our battle cry as we go into Super Bowl season. We know that everybody's gonna be getting together with family and loved ones, their fantasy football leagues and watching the big game. They're probably gonna be cooking up some great food -- especially since it's down in New Orleans this year -- and probably having some wings and making some messes. So that's where Bounty comes in handy."