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| Cowboys OLB DeMarcus Ware, closing in on Bengals QB Andy Dalton, has been chosen to his 7th Pro Bowl. (US Presswire) |
The two Cowboys who actually made the Pro Bowl this year shouldn’t be much of a surprise. TE Jason Witten is going for the eighth time, and OLB DeMarcus Ware is headed to Hawaii for the seventh straight year.
The only real question heading into Wednesday’s Pro Bowl announcements was if Dez Bryant would be included.
But Bryant was left off the list; the NFC Pro Bowl receivers were Brandon Marshall, Calvin Johnson, Victor Cruz and Julio Jones.
Bryant’s numbers, which include 1,311 receiving yards, 88 catches and 12 touchdowns, are higher in every category than both Cruz (1,040, 82, 9) and Jones (1,142, 76, 10). But it’s likely that Bryant just came on strong too late to make a difference in the voting, which ended last week. Bryant has 10 of his 12 touchdowns catches in the second half of the season, including a monster-game of 224 receiving yards and two scores last Sunday against the Saints.
Other Cowboys players who had a shot to make the Pro Bowl include outside linebacker Anthony Spencer (11 sacks) and kicker Dan Bailey, who had three game-winners and made 28 of his 30 field-goal attempts.
As for the guys who made it, Ware has 11½ sacks this year, which is down from his 19½ last year. Injuries have taken their toll as Ware even missed practice Wednesday with an elbow and neck injury. He was named a starter for the seventh straight year.
Witten is going back to Hawaii after missing last year. He recently broke Tony Gonzalez’s record for most catches (102) in a season by a tight end. With 103 going into Week 17, Witten can surpass Michael Irvin for the Cowboys’ all-time single-season record for receptions in a season. Irvin has 111.
Witten is the backup tight end for the NFC to Gonzalez.
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