The Red Zone Report

Last week, I handed out my NFL awards, and one of the toughest picks for me besides MVP was for Defensive Player of the Year, when it came down to Pittsburgh’s James Harrison and Dallas’ DeMarcus Ware.

With all due respect to Ed Reed the interception machine, I picked Ware because when it came to consistently being hard to stop, week in, week out, there was no one better. Sacks in all but two games? Nothing short of amazing. Three games with three sacks?

In any other year, he might have won the award running away from the field, but in a world where real impact and value wins out over consistency, I should’ve known better than to pick Ware.

But when you think about a guy who made game-changing plays and stepped up big in the games that counted the most, that was Harrison.

11 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and a forced fumble in a 23-20 overtime win against Baltimore in Week 4? Had that result gone differently, Baltimore would’ve been the division champion and #2 seed, not Pittsburgh.

In the Steelers’ 11-10 win over San Diego in Week 11, Harrison was responsible for a safety that helped make a difference in the final outcome, as he sacked and stripped Philip Rivers. If not for that play, the Steelers would’ve needed a touchdown on their final drive instead of the field goal that they ultimately needed for the win.

10 tackles, two sacks, and two forced fumbles in a 33-10 rout of New England in Week 13? Not too many teams go into Gillette Stadium and dominate the way the Steelers did that day.

9 tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble in a comeback win over Dallas the following week? Another big game against another marquee opponent.

And even in a 24-20 loss to Indianapolis, Harrison racked up 12 tackles, a sack, and two more tackles for loss.

Ware has made many strides in being known for more than just his pass-rushing skills, and he had a career-high 84 tackles this season. But, he had no more than eight tackles in one game, and as good as he was, it wasn’t enough to get the Cowboys in the playoffs. And when you look a little deeper, two of his three-sack games came against Seattle and St. Louis, and one of his other top performance (6 tackles, a sack, two forced fumbles) was for naught in what was a crushing loss to the Ravens in Week 16. No matter what, he still had a great season, and I think he’s destined for the NFL sack record someday soon, but his overall impact pales in comparison to Harrison’s.

He was contained in losses to the Eagles and the Giants, but when he wasn’t, he was all over the place. When you add it all up, he’s the best player on the league’s best defense, and maybe it wasn’t as tough of a decision as I thought that it was.