Impact of Conference Championship Win for Each Remaining NFL Playoff Team

The beauty of NFL conference championship weekend is the near-unending amount of storylines to cover.

You want strengths and weaknesses? We have both. Under-the-radar players? You bet. Those are just two examples of dives into the matchups between the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles and the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs.

However, the value of a win itself is also worth exploring.

In its most literal form, a victory in the conference championship game means a ticket to the Super Bowl. But there are also historical, current and future narratives at stake on Sunday.

The teams are listed in chronological order based on kickoff time and the corresponding away/home designation.

If you've had enough of Brock Purdy factoids, apologies in advance. However, it's only logical to highlight what the first-year quarterback is on the verge of achieving.

To date, no rookie quarterback has started and won a conference championship. The four previous members of the club—Shaun King, Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Flacco and Mark Sanchez—combined for nine interceptions with an average losing margin of 10.3 points.

Purdy could solidify himself as the most memorable rookie quarterback in NFL postseason history. Meanwhile, the Niners are still trying to end their Super Bowl drought.

Over the last 12 seasons, few franchises have enjoyed as much success as San Francisco. They've advanced to the NFC Championship Game five times over that span and have won twice, but they still haven't won a Super Bowl since the 1994 campaign. They lost to the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII and to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV.

Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan assuredly wants another shot at a Super Bowl title after squandering leads in 2019 with the Niners and in 2016 as the Atlanta Falcons' offensive coordinator.

The Niners have an interesting blend of history and redemption on the line in Philly.

Filed in the "what a difference one year makes" category, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts has a chance to leave no room for debate about his future.

Last season, the dynamic signal-caller played reasonably well against mediocre teams and struggled with top competition. Most glaringly, he stumbled through an awful loss to Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the Wild Card Round, raising questions about whether he could be a franchise quarterback.

This season, Hurts provided an emphatic answer en route to becoming an MVP finalist. His ascent, which coincided with the offseason arrival of star wideout A.J. Brown, has propelled the Birds to the brink of a second Super Bowl appearance in six years.

Fair or not, questions about Hurts will be stirred up again if the Eagles lose to the Niners. After all, he's soon headed for a hefty extension since 2023 is the final year of his rookie deal.

Once Hurts' next contract kicks in, the Eagles won't have as much financial flexibility to build around him. The Cincinnati Bengals are nearing a similar challenge with Joe Burrow.

A loss on Sunday could raise doubts about Hurts' future, especially with injury flags that are inevitably tied to mobile quarterbacks. However, a Super Bowl trip on his resume would be a valuable counterpoint.

I, for one, welcome our new AFC overlords. That is, if the Cincinnati Bengals can manage to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs for the fourth straight time in 13 months.

From that perspective, perhaps Cincinnati already has the upper hand. However, Kansas City has reached the AFC Championship Game in five straight seasons, advanced twice and won a Super Bowl once. Cincinnati has risen to prominence, but only in the last two years.

With two more victories this postseason, the Bengals would match the final two details of the Chiefs' recent success. That would likely make Cincinnati the AFC front-runner in 2023.

Let's be clear: Losing this showdown would not mean the Bengals are overrated or some nonsense like that. As long as Burrow is healthy, Cincinnati has a shot at a championship. But the Bengals are clearly tired of feeling disrespected compared to Kansas City and the Buffalo Bills.

If Cincinnati knocks off both—especially the Chiefs again—to make the Super Bowl for a second straight year, it will shift from a pesky contender to the AFC's standard-bearer.

With yet another loss to Cincinnati, Kansas City would fall in the AFC's hierarchy. But with a win, Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs would pad their growing legacies.

Reid, who's already among the greatest coaches in NFL history, recently became the first to win 10-plus postseason games with two franchises. However, practically all of his legendary counterparts won at least two championships. Reid is looking for his second after the Chiefs won in 2019.

Mahomes presumably has a long career ahead, but future success is never guaranteed in the NFL. He could become only the 13th quarterback to start in three-plus Super Bowls.

Reid and Mahomes have built the Chiefs into a behemoth, accounting for five of Kansas City's seven straight AFC West crowns. Without question, the Chiefs are one of the NFL's most respected teams.

With a second Super Bowl win, the Chiefs would eliminate any disagreement of whether their current era has been a true dynasty.