The Dallas Cowboys have to be concerned heading into the Saturday night game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 15 of the NFL season. DeMarcus Ware suffered a neck stinger in the loss to Arizona and spent much of the final quarter of the game on the sidelines, as the Cardinals came from behind, to win. He then was in and out of the Giants game, and without him in key moments, Dallas fell again.
Ware missed practice heading into the short week game but should be ready for the Buccaneers' game.
Ware said that missing a lot of the Giants game, despite the Cowboys losing, was better for him because now he is ready to go. That is good news for the Dallas Cowboys and bad news for Josh Freeman and the Bucs.
On the 2011 season, Ware sits at 15 sacks on the season, tied for second in the NFL. He took the lead two weeks ago but Jared Allen roared back with three sacks in Week 14. Of course, Ware has four double-digit sack games in the year, so don't count him out.
Don't look at Ware's game against the Giants, with his four tackles, two solo, and no sacks for his status this week. There have been four games this season he did not record a sack but he has never gone back-to-back games without a sack this season. The Buccaneers are decent protecting their quarterback, only allowing 24 sacks on the season, but Ware is pretty good as well.
At one point this season, DeMarcus Ware was on pace to break Michael Strahan's record of 22.5 sacks in a season. However, Ware now needs 7.5 sacks in the final three games, which is not likely. What is possible is Allen's chance to break the record, needing only five in three games. You can bet Ware wants to keep his name in the race.
Over seven seasons, Ware has never missed a game with an injury. He didn't miss the Giants game, although he was ineffective. Ware should definitely be ready to make up for it against the Buccaneers.
Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys' fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys' related news, good or bad
