KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Here is the eighth in a series of 10 plays that shaped the Kansas City Chiefs' 2014 season. We’re going in chronological order, not in order of importance.

The 7-5 Chiefs, dragging a two-game losing streak, were in Arizona on Dec. 7 to play the Cardinals. Their frequently balky offense was generating yardage, but not scoring many points and the Chiefs trailed 17-14 midway through the fourth quarter.

They had a third-and-4 at the Arizona 41. Quarterback Alex Smith threw a quick pass underneath the zone coverage to tight end Travis Kelce. He took the ball an additional 13 yards to the Cardinals' 22, where the Chiefs appeared to have a fresh set of downs and would be in range for, at least, the tying field goal.

But the ball popped out from Kelce’s possession after he hit the ground and Arizona recovered. Cardinals coach Bruce Arians threw the challenge flag and after the video review, the ruling was that Kelce had lost possession before going to the ground and that it was indeed a fumble and Arizona’s ball.

The ruling crushed the Chiefs’ chances for victory. They got the ball back once more, at the Kansas City 24, but with only 1:09 remaining and out of time outs.

A series of short passes got the Chiefs almost nowhere. They ultimately gave up the ball on downs at their 31.

A third straight defeat left the Chiefs at 7-6 and with no margin for error. As things turned out, they needed to win their final three games to get into the playoffs.

They would fall one game short.