During the 2011 NFL season, Jared Allen of the Minnesota Vikings and DeMarcus Ware of the Dallas Cowboys were engaged in a fierce race to break Michael Strahan’s single-season sack record of 22.5 sacks. While both players would ultimately fall just short of surpassing that mark (22.0 and 19.5 sacks, respectively), this sack race was a microcosm of each player’s greatness as a pass rusher. For the better part of a decade each, Allen and Ware were among the most feared pass rushers in the NFL, wreaking havoc in the backfields of opposing offenses – given their almost perfectly overlapping playing days and similar career sack totals, it makes sense to line them up side-by-side and pose the question:
Who was better – Jared Allen or DeMarcus Ware?
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