EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- All summer, outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware kept thinking about the Cowboys' opener against the New York Giants and setting the tone for the season.

It was hard for Ware to forget about what happened last season. A two-game sweep at the hands of the Giants sent shivers across Cowboy Nation. Ware, one of the faces of the franchise, took the losses personally.

Which is why he had a business-like approach when he arrived at MetLife Stadium on Wednesday night and a big smile when he left. Ware had two sacks, five tackles and two tackles for loss in the Cowboys' victory.

Ware's sack in the second quarter made him the 28th player in NFL history to surpass the 100-sack mark. Ware did in in 113 games, the second fastest in league history behind only Reggie White, who did it in 96 games.

"I always talk about consistency," Ware said. "Since my rookie season. Being able to try and do the same things every year and get pressure on the quarterback and being in the midst of being named with a guy like Reggie White ... Just to have that opportuntiy is a great honor."

Ware, who now has 101.5 sacks, knew he needed to take over the Cowboys-Giants game Wednesday night. It wasn't anything against his teammates, but Ware was tired of losing to the Giants and not finishing games.

Ware sacked Manning on a first-down play in the second quarter for a 15-yard loss. His second sack came with less than a minute to play in the half and forced a third-and-long situation.

It's those types of plays that the Cowboys need from Ware, especially in the fourth quarter of games.

Ware said he implored his teammates to finish strong from a defensive standpoint because the Giants have rallied to beat the Cowboys in previous games.

"When it's the fourth quarter and when you're out there and time to get pressure, you have to put the dagger down and be able to close the offense out as a whole, and that's what we were trying to do," Ware said. "That's what we did. It's like, (Eli Manning) has three or four or five minutes left and they got three timeouts. They can still come back and win the game because they've done that before. So can we close the game out? We were just talking about that the whole time (on the sidelines). We were talking about that."