Sports Psychologist: The San Francisco 49ers Are The Smarter Team In The Super Bowl
The San Francisco 49ers have the mental edge in the Super Bowl, so says one noted national sports psychologist.
Sports psychologist Dr. John Murray has developed the Mental Performance Index (MPI) to better gauge potential performance involving NFL teams. The MPI measures such stats as “mental errors” and “pressure execution” to determine which team is sharper mentally, an indicator he says can point to future performance.
One of the most prominent sports psychologists in the nation, Dr. Murray has spent years developing the MPI, and to good effect. It works.
This past year, Dr. Murray won the 2019 World Series of Handicapping and placed third in the RX Forum Hilton Style Super Contest. He also took fifth in the world in predicting games against the spread at the Sports Watch Monitor.
“It seems clear that the 49ers are a slightly better performing team, mentally and physically,” Dr. Murray told SportsIllustrated.com.
“Using this analysis, I chose the 49ers +1.5 points to cover the spread against the Chiefs.”
The spread Dr. Murray utilizes is from Jazz Line.
Beyond his success handicapping, Dr. Murray works professionally with a number of NFL and NBA athletes as well as tennis players. He also has written a number of books, including the appropriately named The Mental Performance Index: Ranking The Best Teams in Super Bowl History.
He has a track record of success, including going 9-2 against the spread (81.82%) in the last 11 Super Bowls. In total games predicted over the past two NFL, Dr. Murray claims a record against the spread of 112-78-8 (58.95%).
He sees it as a close game but more advantage for the 49ers at this point.
“I think the advantage of San Francisco running the ball could be decisive. They were No. 2 overall in rushing vs. Kansas City which was No. 23. Look for a lot of [Raheem] Mostert running the ball and I would not be surprised if he is the MVP,” Dr. Murray said.
“There is serious concern, however, about [Chiefs quarterback] Patrick Mahomes. If he deals with the pressure this early in his career, and there is every reason to believe he is terrific in pressure, but this is the Super Bowl, he could have an MPI performance. I will say this. If the Chiefs win this game, Mahomes will be the MVP!
“They say that defense wins Super Bowls. If this is true, San Francisco wins this game. But more importantly to me is that the 49ers are performing better on the MPI in the playoffs. I cannot predict a score, but only say that the 49ers should cover +1.5 … but if I had to give a fun pick, I would say something like San Francisco wins the game 34-31.”
