Last night, after 120 minutes of scoreless action on the field, the New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams on penalty kicks in Super Bowl LIII. Jared Goff had the opportunity to bring his team level from the spot, but he blasted his effort over the crossbar, and New England’s Rex Burkhead stepped up and calmly buried his penalty to put the game away.
Being the lowest scoring game in Super Bowl history, this is an apt metaphor. We’d just have to insert punters Ryan Allen and Johnny Hekker into the exercise as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, respectively.