Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia might be a house of horrors for the Giants, but the biggest bane of their existence plays for Dallas.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s personal 10-game winning streak in the rivalry with the Giants isn’t just dominant.
It borders on historic.
Prescott is just the third quarterback since 1950 to win 10 straight starts against the Giants, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
With a victory Sunday to open the season, Prescott would tie Cowboys legend Roger Staubach for the longest run of supremacy by any NFL quarterback against the Giants in 73 years.
Yes, despite their breakthrough in reaching the playoffs last season, the Giants are on the verge of matching a mark of futility set during their darkest decade (1974-79).
“Coach [Tom] Landry was always wanting to beat the Giants,” Staubach told The Post. “We just clicked when we played the Giants. Coming out of the [Navy], I always enjoyed playing in New York. Going to New York is a big deal — it’s a great city.
“Beating the Giants was a lot of fun, actually.”
Prescott must feel similarly.
Since losing twice to the Giants as a rookie in 2016, Prescott has completed 67.3 percent of his passes with 22 touchdown passes and five interceptions in 10 meetings.
His quarterback rating topped 90 nine times, including one of 70 perfect-rating (158.3) games in league history.
“Going to do what I’ve done every year, every time playing these guys — prepare my ass off going into this game and just be ready for whatever they have,” Prescott said after practice Thursday. “But they do have my respect. It’s always fun playing New York, and definitely playing them up at their place.”
What is the impact of the lopsided results?
There was a lot of clichéd talk of “the past is the past” and “that streak has no impact on Sunday” coming out of the Giants’ locker room this week, but there must be a psychology to the dominance, right?
“There is a human element to it,” Levi Nelson, a certified trainer for the Positive Coaching Alliance, told The Post. “When Dak is in your mind, so to speak, how is that combatted?
“My education, my coaching experience and my work would say that the best way to generally increase someone’s performance is by improving their confidence. When you haven’t had a lot of success against a particular opponent, the best way to handle it is by eliminating self-talk.”
Nelson holds a doctorate degree in sport and performance psychology, is a published author, a high school football coach in Wisconsin and spoke at The Green Bay Packers Coaching School this year.
He explained “self-talk” as the internalization of an event and the positive or negative emotional response to recalling it.
“So, I think the guys in the locker room working with a sports psychologist are learning about stoicism, and that ‘I control how I respond to this situation,’ and that ‘Just because it happened last time does not mean it’s going to happen this time,’ ” Nelson said.
“The reality is the average person has up to 60,000 thoughts per day and most are to embody self-doubt,” he said. “Reframe it, be optimistic and have someone create evidence against this: What is proof that Dak is going to win this game?’ For instance, the Giants won a playoff game last year.”
Prescott’s streak against the Giants since 2017 (not to be confused with the Cowboys’ 11-1 record in the series over the same time frame) is the second-longest active winning streak by any quarterback against any opponent.
Only the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes’ ownership of the Broncos for 11 straight wins is comparable.
“[Prescott is] one of the best competitors at the quarterback position and leaders, I think,” Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale.
The Giants have one of the NFL’s highest rates of roster turnover over the last three seasons, according to Pro Football Focus, but the results against Prescott haven’t changed with the personnel.
Their only win against the Cowboys in the last six seasons was at Andy Dalton’s expense in the 2020 regular-season finale.
Martindale is 0-2 against Prescott as a play-caller and only five of the 27 players on the defensive depth chart (none of whom predate 2019) know the secret to beating him — though in a different uniform.
“Hitting him early,” defensive tackle Rakeem Nuñez-Roches, one of the five, said. “Not letting him get on his rhythm, always getting in his head and making him force throws rather than be comfortable.”
Just seeing the familiar blue and white helmets and uniforms could be worth a few points for Prescott.
Not that Staubach can fully relate.
“Coach Landry did not allow us to think that way,” Staubach said. “Any game we played, it was like, ‘This is the best team in the league.’ We were going to go in and make sure we were going to win. We didn’t go in thinking, ‘This is going to be an easy game.’ ”
There is psychological truth in such football-speak.
“Dak would have the advantage because he has confidence on his side,” Nelson said. “But it’s not just about that opponent but, ‘Do I have success against that coordinator? Do I have my No. 1 receiver? Is my line blocking?’ ”
Staubach, for one, thinks Prescott doesn’t get as much credit as he deserves as a winner with a 61-35 overall record.
“The team really likes Dak,” he said. “I’m a fan of his. He is a leader, he’s a good football player. I’d love to see him go win the Super Bowl.”
Prescott’s odds might improve if he could face the Giants.
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