John Steigerwald: Super Bowl matchup proves NFL now belongs to young QBs

The old guys are staying home.

There will be no grizzled veteran quarterback in the Super Bowl this year. Patrick Mahomes, 24, will go to Miami in two weeks with the Kansas City Chiefs, and 28-year-old Jimmy Garoppolo will be there with the San Francisco 49ers.

Tom Brady, 43, Drew Brees, 40, Aaron Rodgers, 36 and Russell Wilson, 31, were knocked out. Even Wilson no longer is considered one of the young guys.

Eli Manning, 39, Philip Rivers, 38, and Ben Roethlisberger, 38, didn’t make the playoffs this year. But Deshaun Watson, 24, Lamar Jackson, 23, Josh Allen, 23, Mahomes and Garoppolo did.

Roethlisberger didn’t make it because of arm trouble, but arm trouble is part of being an old quarterback.

The prevailing notion in these parts has been that the Steelers will be contenders again next season when Roethlisberger returns. But is that optimism warranted?

All of a sudden, the NFL belongs to young quarterbacks. Is the fate of the franchise depending on a 38-year-old quarterback coming off elbow surgery a good thing?

Roethlisberger hasn’t won a playoff game since 2016 and is 5-6 in his last 11 starts. With the exception of Brady, the old guys haven’t been that great in the postseason.

Brees is 4-6 in his last 10.

Rivers has three playoff wins in the last 10 years.

Manning hasn’t started in a playoff game since 2016 and hasn’t won one since the Super Bowl eight years ago.

Even Rodgers is 6-7 in his last 13 after getting knocked out Sunday by the 49ers.

Art Rooney II said this week the Steelers organization is comfortable with Mason Rudolph as the backup going into next year. Nobody could blame you for asking why — and don’t forget the Steelers are 2-5 in Roethlisberger’s last seven regular-season starts.

He’s a future Hall of Fame quarterback, but he’s old in a young quarterback’s league and there’s no evidence there is a young quarterback on the roster who is a star-in-waiting.

Joe Burrow is going to be the first pick in the draft by the Bengals. He’s 23, which is the same age as Ravens starter Jackson. The Browns’ Baker Mayfield is 24.

Maybe the Steelers can get at least one more good year out of Roethlisberger, but, no matter what happens next season, when it ends, the Steelers better have a good young quarterback ready to step in or they could be looking at some lean years.

Commissioner made right call

Rob Manfred got it right. After an investigation showed blatant cheating by the Houston Astros, he suspended their general manager, Jeff Luhnow, and manager, AJ Hinch, for a year, took away their first two draft picks this year and next and fined them $5 million.

The Astros’ using electronics to steal signs from opponents is the baseball equivalent of what the New England Patriots did in what became known as Spygate.

A hitter being tipped off about what kind of pitch is coming has the same effect as tipping off a defense about where the next play is going or tipping off a quarterback about a blitz.

And NFL commissioner Roger Goodell quickly and sneakily destroying the video evidence, and not suspending Patriots coach Bill Belichick for at least a year really looks weak in comparison to what the Astros got.

The Astros players, who were involved, also should have been suspended for at least a year, and if Manfred can’t vacate the championship or make the players give back their World Series rings, he could send a strong message by telling the team instead of raising a championship banner on opening day in April, they have to raise a large banner with just a very large one of these on it: *

Houston Asterisks has a nice ring to it.