Well, last night's game had no impact on the Championship Match player wise, but the result of the game could have MAJOR implications on Ryan's team. With the Eagles beating the Giants last night, it helped the Dallas Cowboys clinch not only the division title, but the #1 seed overall, a bye, and home field throughout the playoffs. That's great for Cowboys fans....but the news might not be so great for Ryan. The big question is going to be, "Now that the Cowboys have nothing to play for, will the Cowboys start resting their starters or scaling back their workload?" Ryan's best player is Zeke Elliott and anything other than a full workload is going to be a disappointment and would have a negative impact on Ryan's chances at winning the Wane McGarity Bowl. Nothing has come out as of now as far as Zeke's workload and I'll assume he's going to play close to his usual snaps, because you still have Week 17 to rest up. Things could change if the game gets out of hand. Considering it's also the last play of the championship for either guys, it'll be interesting to see how it plays out. Onto last week's awards.
Wane McGarity Stud Of The Week
Ezekiel Elliott (Hoosier Daddy)
Drew Brees had more points, but do you know Alex STILL wins easily if Drew Brees put up a 0? That's how bad he beat Eugene last week. Ryan needed each and every one of Zeke's hard earned points to secure his first ever trip to the Wane McGarity Bowl and Zeke was the #1 reason Ryan came back to beat Albert.
Michael Wiley Dud Of The Week
Tyler Eifert (Channel 4 News Team)
So Eugene was dealing with a ton of injuries and Aaron Rodgers performance wasn't even bad in real life so I eliminated his players from this award. Doug Martin was AWFUL, but he's been pretty mediocre since he came back and honestly against the Cowboys run D I figured he'd basically need a TD to have a decent game, which he didn't. T.Y. Hilton was disappointing for sure, but the Vikings Secondary is no joke and the Colts were so safely ahead that Hilton didn't play the 4th quarter. Eifert though, has zero excuse. It was a burnable defense, no weather problems, and Eifert was held to 1 catch for 9 yards. When you lose by less than 5 points and basically get a zero from your elite tight end, it's all the difference in the world.
Drew Bennett Sneaky Surprise Award
Bilal Powell (SCLSU MudDogs)
These are the kind of moves that get you into the championship round. Alex took a tiny risk as Matt Forte wasn't ruled out despite nagging injuries and he was replacing one of the better tight ends in Delanie Walker who was originally flexing after using Jimmy Graham (who sucked) in his TE spot, but the move worked out beautifully. Despite not scoring a TD, Powell nearly 22 points and was the 2nd leading scorer, behind Drew Brees, on Alex's team. He won't be a surprise this week that's for sure!
Jay Cutler Bad Decision Award
Albert Playing Doug Martin over Ty Montgomery
For the 2nd time in 3 years, a roster decision has cost Albert a chance at the Wane McGarity Bowl. When I saw Albert pickup Ty Montgomery, I thought to myself "it'd be a little risky, but Montgomery COULD be the wild card Albert uses to put him over the top against Ryan". When news came out the James Starks was out for the game because of a concussion I thought exactly that's what Albert was going to do. Doug Martin is basically started on name value alone, he's been pretty mediocre since coming back from injury and the Dallas Cowboys Run D is actually pretty good. I thought Albert was going to take a gamble and switch Martin out for Ty. In fact, after the fact, he told me that was the plan, but he just couldn't do it and he instantly regretted it. Montgomery went OFF, putting up nearly 30 points on Albert's bench, while Doug Martin was held to under 5 points. If he played Ty, it would've been a blowout win for him, instead of a loss under 5 points. Like he texted me "The name Ty will haunt me now for the next 12 months"...it sure will Albert...this game can be overly cruel.
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