Indianapolis Star – Jan 28, 2007 – Phillip Wilson – AND ANOTHER FIELD: Dr. John F. Murray, a licensed clinical and sport performance psychologist, sent an email in which he compares the Colts and Bears on a mental performance index, his invention to measure the degree to which a team plays to perfection. Dr. Murray writes, so far, the Colts have scored .547 on his MPI compared to the Bears .520. He favors the Colts on offense, .548 to .510. He also gave the Colts the edge in defense (.536 to .515), special teams (.560 to .558), total pressure (.570 to .507), pressure offense (.458 to .394), pressure defense (.673 to .621) and total pressure (.570 to .507).
He says that .600 would be considered an exceptional score and calls the Colts overall .548 ery impressive. The 45-year-old doctor with a PhD from Palm Beach, Fla., writes, Taken together, it appears that Chicago is outmatched in this game. The Bears will have to play an almost perfect game, win the battle of turnovers, and make huge big plays to win this one. Indianapolis has so decisively outperformed Chicago that a two- or three-touchdown victory looks imminent. Im sure Bears fans scoff at this as psycho babble. In fairness to the doc, the MPI correctly predicted Tampa Bays blowout of Oakland four years ago as well as “close games the next two years. So his MPI beat the spread the first three years. But take heart, Bears fans, he didnt beat the spread in last year Super Bowl.
Dr. John F. Murray is a sports psychologist and clinical psychologist providing sports psychology and counseling services based in Palm Beach, Florida.