Cowboys-Giants sideline exclusive: How Dallas' bench had a massive influence on the first half

Dallas Cowboys sideline reporter Kristi Scales shares her observations from the Cowboys' dominating 35-17 win over the Giants at AT&T Stadium to open the 2019 regular season.

1. "Kee-lan" goes from milquetoast to toast of the town

Don't be fooled by Kellen Moore's quiet demeanor and 'aw, shucks' personality. The nicest guy in the world - one that Jason Garrett refers to as "the paper boy" and Troy Aikman "the pizza boy" because of his boyish looks - is really an aggressive play caller that will slit the defense's throat. Just because he doesn't pace the sidelines cursing or ranting and raving doesn't mean he's a milquetoast. Maybe the 'quiet assassin' or 'ninja' is a better description of his play-calling in Sunday's win over the Giants.

Moore took advantage of the Giants' commitment to stop the run by calling lots of play action. With the linebackers sucked in to stop Ezekiel Elliott or Tony Pollard, Dak Prescott skillfully threw it over the heads of those linebackers for huge plays, like the touchdown pass to Blake Jarwin.

After the game, rather than pounding his chest, Moore joked about Jerry Jones calling him by his correct name, Kellen, instead of "Kee-lan."

I guess if you guide your offense to 35 points and your quarterback to a perfect rating in the regular-season opener, the team owner is bound to get your name right.

And if fans want to feel even better about Moore, his postgame comments centered on the ways that this offense can improve by correcting some simple mistakes. For Moore, it's onward and upward, not self-congratulations or contentment.

2. Huge play from the Cowboys' sideline

If you're scavenging the internet for Cowboys articles, you're going to see several that list "Key Plays in the Game." I bet you this particular play won't make any of those, but I promise you it had a huge impact on the game.

Here's the situation:

The game is tied, 7-7, with 1:11 remaining in the first quarter. The Giants are driving, facing 3^rd and 1 form the Cowboys' 35-yard line. They are already in field goal range.

The Cowboys make a defensive substitution. Sean Lee re-enters the game as the Cowboys return to their base defense. But the nickel corner, Jourdan Lewis is still on the field because he didn't hear (or see) that Lee had returned. The Cowboys have 12 men on defense and the play clock is winding down. 3... 2...

From his spot on the sideline -- just in front of the Cowboys' bench -- the line judge begins blowing his whistle and waving his arms to stop the play. But the crowd is loud on this third-and-short play. Nobody, including the other officials, can hear or see the line judge trying to stop the play. Penalty flags fly; the back judge and other officials are going to penalize the Cowboys for too many men on the field. The Giants are going to have first down at the Cowboys' 30-yard line.

Referee Walt Anderson begins to announce the penalty to the crowd, but the line judge (Byron Boston) runs across the field to tell Anderson that Jason Garrett and the Cowboys' bench got a timeout called just before the snap. No penalty. It's still 3^rd-and-1.

Giants head coach Pat Shurmur is irate, and justifiably so - from his perspective - because he didn't hear or see the line judge trying to stop the play. But from my vantage point on the Cowboys' sideline - and I was about 20 feet from the line judge - he clearly was waving his arms and blowing his whistle. Also, from my vantage point, I could see when Lee entered the field but Lewis stayed on. I was thinking the same thing as the coaches: Timeout, timeout, timeout!

So, it's still 3^rd-and-1. What happened on the next play? Instead of handing the ball to Saquon Barkley, Eli attempts a throw to Barkley but is pressured by Leighton Vander Esch. Eli runs to his right, out of the pocket, and his pass doesn't reach the sideline. It's an intentional grounding penalty on the Giants, an automatic loss of down.

Instead of a first down at the Cowboys' 30-yard line after a penalty on the Cowboys defense, the Giants are assessed a penalty for grounding and backed up to the 45-yard line. They have to punt the ball instead of continuing their drive, or maybe attempting a potential field goal..

The Cowboys take the ball on offense and go for a long scoring drive of 93 yards on 9 plays that culminated in the Dak-to-Witten touchdown pass that gave the Cowboys a 14-7 lead.

3. Run after the catch

I'm anxious to talk to Cowboys wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal as well as Kellen Moore this week to see how many of Prescott's 405 passing yards were the result of "runs after the catch." Randall Cobb made some awesome, physical runs, to break tackles and gain yards-after-catch. It was really impressive. Same thing with Michael Gallup, although much of his YAC (as well as Amari Cooper's) came from the fact that the plays (and Dak's throws) got them into open spaces.

The receiving corps (and this includes the tight ends) did a good job of helping Prescott in the first half. He became more pinpoint as the game progressed, and several of his throws were real beauties (especially the ones he dropped-in to Gallup in-stride and the great one to Cooper). But early in the game, the throws were a little behind or a little off, but the receivers made adjustments and turned them into big plays.

And let's not forget to credit the offensive line which did a great job of keeping Prescott clean in the pocket. He was not sacked the entire game, and also used his legs to convert a couple of third downs.

One last note on Cobb's YAC: A great way to measure a player's effect on the game is to see how teammates and coaches respond in the bench area. When Cobb broke tackles and got a first down on a 14-yard gain early in the second quarter, teammates and coaches got really fired-up.

It was also a huge play because Zack Martin had just been called for "tripping", a penalty that could have killed the momentum of the drive. But Cobb's tough running and tackle-breaking reignited the offense after a potential drive-killing penalty. That was a 3^rd-and-10 play from the Giants' 18-yard line which Cobb turned into a first down at the Giants' 4-yard line, which eventually led to Witten's touchdown.

4. Offensive line concerns moving forward?

In my posting on Friday regarding the Giants-Cowboys injury report, I mentioned Martin's back problem, the irritated disk which limited him in practice last week.

Here's an example of the way the Cowboys are going to help Martin manage the issue with his back.

In Sunday's game, Martin did not block for extra points. Backup guard Xavier Sua-Filo blocked on extra points. Sua-Filo also finished the game to give Martin a bit of a break.

The Cowboys also kept eight offensive linemen active for this game; they usually keep only seven on the 46-man gameday active roster. But Sua-Filo was active for this game, along with backup C/G Joe Looney and backup OT Cam Fleming.

5. Zeke's best play was one in which he didn't touch the ball

Zeke looked like his old self on his 10-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Otherwise, his stat line was pretty generic: 13 carries, 53 rushing yards, 4.1 average.

But here's what the stats don't show: Zeke's best play of the game -- I would argue -- was a fantastic blitz pickup in the third quarter on the 45-yard pass to Amari Cooper.

After the game, Moore pointed to that aggressive third-quarter drive as a high point in the game. It was made possible by Zeke's blocking ability. I think that play shows why Zeke is worth the huge investment the Cowboys have made in him. He's a complete, all-around player who is just as good without the ball as he is when he's carrying the ball.

6. Why DeMarcus Lawrence will be a great captain

Of the six team captains for the Cowboys, three are new to the role: DE DeMarcus Lawrence, LB Jaylon Smith, and S Jeff Heath. All are worthy, of course. But I love that D-Law is a captain, and something he said in the locker room after the game is the reason.

Lawrence had the sack/strip/fumble recovery of Eli Manning in the third quarter. Asked about his performance, Lawrence was unhappy with his production. He was upset with himself for not getting more pressure on Manning, especially at the start of the game. That's the proper attitude for a captain: Keeping a high standard for himself, thereby inspiring others to also look at themselves in the mirror, even after a dominating win.

7. Shurmur's bad challenge goes unpunished

Remember the Giants' "Hail Mary" on the final play of the first half, the one that Jeff Heath batted down in the end zone? Pat Shurmur threw his red challenge flag; he wanted a video review in hopes of a pass interference call on the Cowboys defense. The problem, however, is that coaches' challenges are not allowed in the final two minutes of each half; all challenges would have to come from the booth with less than two minutes to play.

As we began our Cowboys Radio halftime show, Babe Laufenberg pointed out that throwing a challenge flag with less than two minutes in the half is an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Should there have penalty on Shurmur, one that would be enforced on the opening kickoff of the second half?

I checked with two members of the officiating crew, and both said that there was no infraction because time had expired. I guess it was sort of a 'no harm, no foul' situation, but it seems to me that something should be enforced. If not penalty yardage, at least the loss of one of Shurmur's two challenges per game. He did throw the red flag, after all.

8. So, what's next?

What's next for the Cowboys? (Other than a potential Prescott contract extension...)

How about the opportunity for the Cowboys to go 2-0 to start the season with both wins coming at the expense of division foes? That's what is coming this week for the Cowboys, this time it's a road game up in D.C.

The Redskins got off to a good start in Sunday's game at Philadelphia before eventually falling, 32-27, to the Eagles.