Noted Sports Psychologist Says Jets Used Their Brains More In Second Half Of The Season

Famed sports psychologist Dr. John Murray says the Jets rose up his Mental Performance Index as the season went on

Not only did the New York Jets show a drastic turnaround over the second half of the season, going 6-2 to close out the year, they also showed more brains. It is this increased mental performance that likely led to the team’s drastic turnaround after a disastrous start to the season. 

At one point, the Jets were 1-7 on the year, a team that fumbled and bumbled their way to being one of the worst in the NFL. By Week 17, however, the Jets had beaten three teams with winning records at the time they played, including the playoff-bound Buffalo Bills. The other two teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Oakland Raiders, saw their postseason chances crushed in losses to the Jets. 

In their six wins of their final eight games, the Jets showed a more efficient offense, cutting back significantly on turnovers. Mentally, the Jets made fewer mistakes as well says one of the nation’s foremost sports psychologists. 

Meet the Mental Performance Index (MPI), created by the ‘King of Sports Brains,’ Dr. John F. Murray. The index charts every play, from a ranking of .001 (poor) to 1.0 (perfection). As such, it is a way to “quantify the degree to which a team performs to perfection.” 

Following their Week 8 loss at the Jacksonville Jaguars, a 29-15 loss where the Jets managed just 289 yards of total offense and turned the ball over three times, the team was 1-6 and seemed destined for a top three pick in the NFL Draft. But beyond the raw numbers, there was concern. The Jets were ranked dead-last in the NFL in Dr. Murray’s MPI, a sign of sloppiness and a team that was mentally far from sharp. 

By the time they had beaten the Bills to finish 7-9, the Jets had risen to finish the season at No. 20 in the MPI. A significant jump for sure, aided by the fact that recent performances are weighed more heavily than the Jets sloppy start to the season. 

Dr. Murray told SI that “For them jump to No. 20 is more than justified in my view” adding that “It was definitely a tale of two seasonal halves.” 

“Winning is the key in football and the 6-2 finish was obviously encouraging. It was also accompanied by a consistently better Mental Performance Index score, meaning that the team actually did perform better both mentally and physically independent of whether they won the game,” Dr. Murray said.   

“In other words, Jets were sharper performing mentally, with reduced turnovers and sloppy plays, better overall execution, and better management of pressure situations. Sam Darnold turned it around a lot after saying he was ‘seeing ghosts’ against New England.”  

Dr. Murray is the 2019 champion of the World Series of Handicapping, with a winning record of 70-45-4 in his picks against the line. He is the author of The Mental Performance Index: Ranking the Best Teams in Super Bowl History and has worked with athletes in the NFL, NBA and professional tennis.  

The overall assessment of the Jets is feel good stuff from Dr. Murray, but it comes with an element of caution. While the Jets did close out the season with those six wins in the second half of 2019, the competition wasn’t that great.  

And while Darnold showed progress and development, there is still work to be done if the Jets are to take a step forward.  

Free agency and the NFL Draft can help the Jets take the next step, Dr. Murray said, but the 7-9 record and the strong close to the regular season also has elements that underlie some concerns.  

“Having said all [the positives] there are still serious reservations about this team and Darnold is not a sure bet. For one, they played four teams that made the playoffs in the first eight games, and only one team that made the playoffs in the second half, so the competition was much easier later in the season,” Dr. Murray said.   

“They also went 7-9 against the spread which matched their 7-9 record overall. That is milk toast, showing that they did not surprise anyone and achieved a little less than expected compared with what prognosticators expected of them. It should also be noted that Darnold’s 51.23 Quarterback Rating in the second half is not going to win anything major. He needs much better blocking too, as the Jets gave up an average of 3.2 sacks a game which ranked a terrible No. 28 in the NFL. The Jets were also the fifth highest team in terms of yards penalized and the tenth in number of penalties. That is sloppy.”