Chiefs at Cardinals - Week 14 - Record: 7-6 - Addendum

Just had to add a few things I'd thought about since Sunday, one of them an extraordinarily important thing in fact.

The first item is that I did get weak and I did peek around at what others had said about the Travis Kelce non-fumble. The most notable piece, this one at Arrowhead Pride, was about how Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians had so brilliantly handled the whole call, pretty darn near single-handedly winning the game with it. The point here is that there is no question we should tip our hat to him. Excellent move on his part, even if it went against us. I'd like it if our team does terrific things to win games -- it is indeed the only reason it means anything.

Still -- and the guy who wrote the splendidly detailed analysis also admitted -- it was still not a fumble.

I'd just like to add something I'd thought about in all this. You'll note the call was made by a sweating first-year official in favor of the home team. Ever read Scorecasting? The authors demonstrate clearly that the major reason -- if not the only reason -- home teams generally do better at home is that referees inadvertently, unwittingly, unknowingly make calls that favor the home team because of that implicit pressure surrounding them.

The second item is that in the haze of getting jobbed last week and feeling yet again the curse's pull against us, I forgot to make mention of the amazingness of Jamaal Charles with regards to his injury-then-not-injury. I mean, it's true, the guy is indeed Superman. The way he got crunched in that pile in the middle of the first half, then hop back up a few plays later and even score a touchdown later, is just beyond me.

Having him in there means, hey, we're still in this thing. Not that he's the whole team -- I'm one to chafe at the spewdom that Charles is the Chiefs. We have so much else to our team.

I'm just still waiting for Andy to employ them more fully...

This leads the last and most important item.

The news on Eric Berry came back, and it is very good. He's got Hodgkins lymphoma, and they're saying it is very treatable, very curable. Praise God! How great is that.

Yes, it'll be good when he battles this sucker and wins, that's 98.3% of this. But the other 1.7% that makes it totally great?...

When he's back on the field leading the Chiefs defense!
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