Who Should I Start? Brock Purdy or C.J. Stroud

Sunday, December 22, 9:34 PM

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy came up short in a 29-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday. With the team down to its fifth-string option at running back, Purdy led the team in rushing with 26 yards on four scrambles and threw the football a career-high 40 times. He completed 26 passes for 313 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. Purdy's touchdowns included a 16-yard Deebo Samuel Sr. catch-and-run through three tacklers and a two-yard toss to second tight end Eric Saubert. Late in the fourth quarter with San Francisco needing a touchdown for a chance to win, Purdy was hit as he threw to wideout Jauan Jennings and the football ended up in the hands of Miami nickelback Kader Kohou. Over his last four games, Purdy has alternated between two sub-five-point bad-weather games and two 20-plus-point performances in good weather. He'll get the Detroit Lions home in Santa Clara on Monday night in Week 17.

Wednesday, December 25, 8:33 PM

C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans delivered a dud in Week 17, finishing 17-for-31 for 185 yards with no touchdowns and an interception as the Houston offense failed to score in a 31-2 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The sophomore was off target on a number of throws, and he was done no favors by a Texans offensive line that allowed five sacks and paved the way for only 58 rushing yards. The young quarterback and the Houston offense couldn't establish much of anything as Baltimore completely dominated the game from the outset. Stroud now has an 8:6 touchdown-to-interception ratio in the past six games, during which he hit 250 passing yards only once. Houston will look for better as it concludes the regular season in Week 18 at Tennessee.