Football is said to be a game of inches.

The NFL revealed just how true that is with a tweet this week about the playoff game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens.

In a key play, referees ruled Raven’s backup quarterback Tyler Huntley failed in a heroic effort to cross the goal line.

The armchair quarterbacks on social media argued that the video replay showed he scored.

Seeking to quell the controversy, the NFL tweeted that he definitely didn’t score.

It was how they proved it that got peoples’ attention.

“According to the chip in the football, the closest the ball got to the end zone was 0.6 yards from the goal line.,” the NFL tweeted.

There’s a chip in the football?

Football fans online were incredulous.

It seemed like the biggest news about the actual football since Deflategate.

Actually, the NFL said it was going to do this in 2017. The New York Times carried a long article about not only the chips in the footballs, but also in the shoulderpads of every player and the extraordinary data that was generated.

Fans should have known that when it comes to technology the possible is always inevitable.

Particularly, given on all the statistics Amazon Web Services generates during every game.

And yet people are still surprised at how far technology has woven its way into daily life.

In part that may be because inspite of the chip in the ball, the NFL still uses physical chains to measure first downs.

That’s clearly not necessary with a chip in the ball.

But it’s visually dramatic and much more fun.