Conference championship quarterbacks have essential quality that current Vikings, Packers QBs lack

The NFL's conference championship games feature four quarterbacks of varying accomplishments and skills. They do have something in common, something the Vikings are desperate to procure.

Thursday, the Vikings presented their new general manager, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. Once they hire a coach, they will begin looking for their quarterback of the future.

The attribute that the four surviving quarterbacks share is the attribute that Adofo-Mensah and his coach will be seeking: Leadership.

Patrick Mahomes' skill is a known quantity. What he has displayed more than ever this season is leadership.

Seven weeks into the season, Kansas City was 3-4. The next week, they beat the awful Giants by just three. The week after that, they beat the Packers and Jordan Love, 13-7, offering more evidence that their offense was jammed in neutral.

Mahomes never complained about the injuries to players around him, his team's lack of a running game or quality third receiver, or the defense's early struggles. He didn't even complain about critics, the go-to move of the modern athlete.

He quietly reiterated that he believed in his team, and he rallied them to the point where they need one victory to become the fourth team to play in three consecutive Super Bowls.

Displaying quiet bravado, he helped the Bengals win a difficult division with a shootout victory over Kansas City in Week 17, and he now has won consecutive playoff games. He hasn't bragged or railed against perceived critics. He has told Bengals fans that this is what they should expect going forward, that winning is what he does.

Matthew Stafford faced immense pressure in his first year with the Rams. For years, he performed well for a terrible Lions franchise. The Rams traded for him to win a Super Bowl.

He didn't always play well, but I believe that he played hurt. His coach, Sean McVay, hinted as much, and if you watched him closely against the Vikings, he had trouble getting the ball downfield or making throws without firmly setting his feet. This was a departure for a player who used to sling the ball like a lesser version of Mahomes.

He never used that obvious injury as an excuse. Never even mentioned it, in fact. Now he's won consecutive playoff games.

Niners QB Jimmy Garoppolo is a cut below the others playing this weekend. Unlike the other three, he was drafted in the second round, not the first. Unlike the other three, he was drafted to be a backup, not a savior. And unlike the other three, he entered this season not knowing if he had a firm grasp on the starting job.

Garoppolo hasn't performed well statistically in the playoffs in his two postseasons, yet he helped the 49ers lead a Super Bowl against Mahomes in the fourth quarter and could lead the 49ers back to a second Super Bowl in three years.

As a passer, he can be erratic. As a leader, he has the admiration of his teammates, and that can make all the difference when a team is under pressure.

The Vikings eventually will look for someone like that to play quarterback for them.

So might the Packers.

Kirk Cousins and Aaron Rodgers may have more in common than their reputations suggest. Both refused vaccinations, endangering their team's seasons and proving that neither is a leader, and Rodgers went further, spending the week before a home playoff game broadcasting COVID disinformation.

Both have underachieved in big games.

There is a reason for that, and it's not roster construction.