Who Should I Start? Marcus Mariota or Joe Burrow

Friday, January 2, 12:26 PM

Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota (hand) has officially been ruled out for Sunday's Week 18 regular-season finale against the division-rival Philadelphia Eagles, according to Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic. Mariota was a stretch to make it back to play in the final game of the year after injuring his hand in the Week 16 loss to the Eagles. The 32-year-old veteran was held out of the Christmas Day loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17 and will now miss a second straight game to end the year. Journeyman QB Josh Johnson will make a second straight start for the Commanders. Mariota ended up playing in 11 games (eight starts) this year while filling in for the injured Jayden Daniels, and he held his own, throwing for 1,695 yards, 10 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. He added 297 yards on the ground and a TD.

Sunday, January 4, 6:23 PM

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow finished off the 2025 season on a strong note during Sunday's game against the Cleveland Browns. Burrow completed 29 of 39 passing attempts for 236 yards with three touchdowns and one interception in the loss. Burrow did everything he could, but the special teams unit let him down this week. Burrow finishes the season with 1,809 passing yards with 17 touchdowns and five interceptions in eight games after missing a good portion of the year after having surgery to fix a turf-toe injury. The 29-year-old is clearly one of the best QBs in the league, but his inability to stay healthy is hurting this team. Burrow has missed significant time in two of the last three seasons. The hope is that he'll be able to put together a fully healthy season in 2026.