MentalPerformanceIndex.com for Football

The Cowboys Run Wild Over Cinderella's Slippers

     Tulane Stadium in New Orleans was the site of Super Bowl VI. As a freshman at Loyola University (next door to Tulane) seven and a half years later, I snuck into this then forbidden, closed and rusty arena one dark spooky Fall, paused at the 50-yard-line, and time traveled to Larry Csonka's fateful fumble that day in 1972. Csonka never fumbled, but he did then, as did the rest of the Cinderella Dolphins who lost many piles of glass slippers to galloping Cowboys.

     Dallas was led by a new quarterback, a well loved former Navy veteran, and soon to be legend Roger Staubach. The Cowboys were on a mission to avenge the previous year's blunders in Miami and they would not let down the nachos and chili chomping Texans. Miami was newly led by a Super frustrated but tough Don Shula, one year still from undefeated glory. Jim Murray, the famous Los Angeles Times reporter sized up the Dolphins the previous year writing, "who are the Dolphins?"

     Despite the doubters, Miami reached the show behind the brutal running of the Hungarian built Larry Csonka and the explosive leg of Cypriot kicker Garo Yepremian, who ended the longest game in NFL history on Christmas Day 1971 by booting the Chiefs out of their new Arrowhead Stadium. The Dolphins would go on to shut down the Colts and Johnny Unitas 21-0 in Miami in the AFC Championship game. Defensive mastermind Bill Arnsparger should not be forgotten. Dreams of the impossible rose as high as white hankies dominating the landscape of NFL stadiums, like a sea of sails smothering the enemy in a naval skirmish.

Dallas took the stroll down Bourbon Street in an even more impressive manner and 11-3 regular season. They mangled the hapless Vikings and stole gold dust from the pans of Forty-Niners in the NFC Championship game to earn their reservation on the patio of Pat O'Briens. Thankfully for Coach Tom Landry, the team drank more water than Hurricanes!

Miami magic ended quickly on this day, and the image that might be most remembered is Dolphin's quarterback Bob Griese scrambling for his dear life to escape the fierce rush of Dallas assassins for what seemed like five minutes until he was finally sacked by Bob Lilly for a 29 yard loss. The rare Csonka fumble also hurt, and led to a Dallas field goal and began the beating. Dallas' Duane Thomas ran for 95 yards and a touchdown, and Stauback passed for two touchdowns. Chuck Howley should also be credited and he probably earned his MVP honors from the previous year in this game with a fumble recovery and a key interception.

An MPI analysis of this game shows that the Cowboys out-performed the Dolphins
on the Total MPI .538 to .445 and in 5 out of 7 categories. The final score, thus, accurately represents what happened at Tulane. To Miami's credit, the special teams outperformed Dallas .567 to .433. Most notable in this game was the performance of the Cowboys defense in pressure situations (.750) and the way the Cowboys defense thoroughly destroyed Miami's offense (.592 to .384).

Taken together, the Dallas Cowboys used a stable rushing attack, key passes at the right time, turnovers, and an overwhelming defense to send Cinderella home to mop the kitchen floor which she had started before the prince got a crazy idea. The embarrassment and pain of this loss would linger throughout the off-season, and this taste of defeat would inspire Miami to immortality in the next season. But this day belonged to the boys from Texas poker games, square dances, and rodeos. The Cowboys won their first of multiple Super Bowls and started to earn their designation as "America's Team." Poor America! Shouldn't the Washington Redskins be America's team? Or the Patriots? Why the Cowboys? It must be those cheerleaders outfits. Now I understand!

Congrats Cowboys: Click to Watch Video of America's Team, the Dallas Cowboys

The MPI or Mental Performance Index is the first system of scoring developed in sports which includes in the scoring key mental factors such as pressure management, reduction of mental errors and focused execution. It was developed by licensed clinical and sport performance psychologist Dr. John F. Murray in 2002 to show the extreme importance of mental factors in sports. It is much more accurate than the final score and other statistics in showing how one team performed relative to another team. It has almost perfectly estimated the relative performance of the teams before each of the past 5 Super Bowls. Dr. Murray's MPI forecast has also beaten the official Super Bowl spread 4 out of 5 times now. He has appeared on hundreds of radio and television shows, and the forecast has also appeared in hundreds of articles. Why all the focus, energy and interest in this topic? Because it so clearly demonstrates the importance of mental factors in sports. For more information about the MPI or Dr. Murray's services, please call 561-596-9898 or send an email to: johnfmurray@mindspring.com