DeMarcus Ware Is Having A Pro Bowl Year

Cowboys Linebacker DeMarcus Ware's heads up play against the Redskins was the product of hours and hours of studying tape.

“The two people that get the ball the most in touches, are the center and the quarterback,” he explains. I mean they always have some type of tendency and I use it to my advantage.”

As a result, Ware was able to get a tremendous jump on the defensive end to make the play on Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell. But away from the tape room, Ware credits Head Coach Wade Phillips' defensive philosophy for giving him a leg up this year.

“This year you can be more aggressive, you can get to the passer a little bit more, and that's what they brought me in here to do,” he says, “so I'm able to do that.”

“I've never seen an outside linebacker make as many plays as he does, says Head Coach Wade Phillips. “I call him an all star. He's an all star kind of person that you want on your team. He’s a great pass rusher and has that sixth sense. Those type of players get off the ball quicker than everybody else.”

So far this season, Ware has nine sacks. That ties him for the lead in the NFC. He's a player whose effort never seems to stop.

“Its big, it’s big,” says Safety Ken Hamlin. “We have got to keep an air pump over there for him, because he's going so fast.”

“We trained together for the better part of two and a half years now,” says Linebacker Kevin Burnett. “When we train we try to out do each other, so for us you either leave it out on the field, or be embarrassed by what you see on the film.

As many sacks as Ware has this season, he's still not even close to the team record. That's held by Harvey Martin who had 23, thirty years ago. But despite that, Ware is having a Pro Bowl year.

Ware is in his third year and has already become the only player in Cowboys history to either lead or tie for the team lead in sacks in each of his first two pro seasons.