With the Super Bowl now clearly established, thanks to critical mistakes by the two losing teams, we turn our gaze back to the other contest that shows similar signs of missed opportunities — the Republican nomination for president.

I am not quite sure if Mitt Romney, driving deep, threw an interception (or three) or if Newt Gingrich, desperate, threw a successful Hail Mary — perhaps some combination of the two. What I do suspect, with some certainty, is the Republican opportunity to challenge President Obama effectively might already be at risk.

It is not simply the negativity and the personalities of the final two strong candidates — it is also real sense that they are both fatally afflicted with challenges that are simply too easy for the President to exploit. Gingrich is smart, tough and ingenious, but he is undisciplined, polarizing and at times strangely disconnected from the moment.

Take his victory speech after South Carolina. He had the opportunity for the first time to present himself as a true visionary leader who could take the reins of our government and lead us. Instead he gave a long, rambling talk — and spent several minutes explicating an issue about an obscure judge who had handed down a ridiculous ruling about the practice of prayer. The message simply didn't meet the moment.

Romney, likewise, with a chance to all but wrap up the nomination was inexplicably incompetent and tone deaf the entire week before the South Carolina primary. Did he not think his connections with Bain Capital or his tax returns would become an issue, particularly given the economic issues facing this country? How can a campaign with half the known political expertise in the world working for it walk in so unprepared with so much at stake — over confidence? He shows few signs of learning from his mistakes, as his rhetoric since South Carolina has shown.

Whatever the reason, it is political malpractice — and it might yet cost the Governor the nomination if he doesn't find a way to address the issues with compelling talking points and a big vision that goes beyond platitudes and negative attacks on his opponents. His debating and speaking points need not even be all that sophisticated — but a guy fighting attacks about indecisiveness and fickleness probably doesn't want to take the stage and say, twice in a row, when asked a direct question, "maybe."

I happen to believe Romney is the most qualified and best equipped to beat Obama. He is cool under pressure, is clearly competent on economics and has performed — until recently — with great skill in the debates. He had the look of a frontrunner, but for some reason — at the critical moment — he fumbled the punt, missed the field goal, dropped the pass. Knowing he needs to do something dazzling to break Gingrich's momentum, he utters the same old fluff and rhetoric. Hire me as your speechwriter, Governor, and I will teach you how to inspire, set yourself apart from the Speaker and mobilize the nation without trashing a man, Gingrich, who has done a great deal for causes conservatives value.

It might go something like this: listen, the speaker and I are in a tough battle. I respect his talents, his tougheness and his willingness to take on the challenges facing this nation. I agree with him on many of those issues. But let's not kid ourselves — the speaker carries more baggage than a 747. This isn't just about fighting the media, it's about fighting for a free enterprise system that has created more wealth than any system in history. Yes, we need to fix some things — and we need to break the gridlock in Washington. Most of all, we need to make the sitting president a full time writer — it is, after all, what he does best.

Politics is a serious and silly game and you have to be able to master both parts of it. Yes, it is a bit ridiculous that Gingrich sailed to victory in South Carolina because of a single question from a media guy just doing his job — but that is the nature of a campaign. Remember Ronald — I paid for this mic — Reagan? Remember George — read my lips — Bush. Remember Bill — the comeback kid — Clinton. These impressions, made in the flurry of the fight and often seemingly inconsequential, have tremendous capacity to shape the campaigns.

Romney needs to look like a winner even when he is losing, something he has struggled to do even when he is winning. It is the strength that comes from knowing who you are and where you want to go — he has had a long time to get that right and he needs to pound himself into steel. A little wit, a little humor, a little passion would go a long way. Otherwise, Romney will — like Fred Thompson, another guy who could have been president — fade away. 

Gingrich needs to evolve from a street fighter to a statesman — I cannot think of an instance in the past century where America elected an angry man president, with the possible exception of Harry Truman in 1948. Gingrich the populist, I am sorry to say, will go down in flames in November – but if he can transform himself into a presidential timber rather than grassroots kindling — well, time will tell.

In the meantime, we are faced — with unemployment sliding and the Republicans offering little in the way of clear and compelling vision — the real prospect of a two term Obama presidency. With the most of the nation stuck in neutral, the Republicans had better come up with something compelling beyond "the rich help create jobs" — or they are doomed.