Cowboys’ Ware sure can tackle

November 1, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

The linebacker is being compared to Lawrence Taylor.

IRVING, Texas (AP) — Even as DeMarcus Ware’s NFL record-tying streak of 10 consecutive games with a sack was ending, the Cowboys linebacker was in the face of the quarterback, forcing a victory-clinching incompletion on fourth down.

“He plays 60 or 70 plays, 16 plays in a row rushes the passer ... last play of the game, he hits the quarterback,” coach Wade Phillips said. “He’s pretty amazing.”

Before Ware played a game for Dallas as a rookie in 2005, former coach Bill Parcells was already comparing the first-round pick to another player he coached, Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor.

With his unique blend of strength, agility and quickness, Ware is now making quite a name for himself.

“He’s brought back that combination of a rush linebacker and a drop linebacker in the 3-4 system. I think he’s the epitome of what teams that play the 3-4 look for,” said Derrick Brooks, Tampa Bay’s 10-time Pro Bowler. “He’s one of the bright young players in our league right now.”

Ware’s streak of 10 consecutive games with a sack ended Sunday, the longest since Simon Fletcher of Denver set that mark 15 years ago. But the Cowboys got a much-needed 13-9 victory over Tampa Bay after Jeff Garcia, with Ware pressing him in the closing seconds, couldn’t complete a pass from the Dallas 18.

Winning the game was all that mattered to Ware, whose beastly on-field persona is far from what he is really like.

Away from the game, Ware is constantly smiling, though soft-spoken and preferring to stay out of the spotlight — a lullaby-singing father to his adopted infant daughter.

“On the field I’m so intense, just so focused,” Ware said.

Ware leads the NFC with nine sacks, 11‚Ñ2 behind Miami’s Joey Porter for the NFL lead. With one more, Ware will become only the fourth Dallas defender with three consecutive 10-sack seasons, and the first since Hall of Fame defensive tackle Randy White from 1983-85.

Strangely enough, Ware’s 10 games in a row with a sack that tied the NFL record isn’t the franchise record. Harvey Martin had sacks in 11 consecutive games from 1976-77 for the Cowboys, before the NFL recognized sacks as an official statistic.

The chance to start a new streak comes Sunday when the Cowboys play at the NFC East-leading and archrival Giants. Ware has four sacks in seven career games against New York.

Tampa Bay’s Jon Gruden coached Ware at the Senior Bowl and remembers saying, “We should draft that guy.” But the Bucs needed a running back and instead took Carnell Williams with the fifth pick that year.

“He’s just got tremendous effort. Forget about the sacks; the man is in on every play,” Gruden said. “He’s got an arsenal of moves. I just love the way he plays. He’s got tremendous stamina.”