KC Next Play: We begin with a throwback order of cheesesteaks, Chiefs-style. Plus, Sal
Kansas City’s sports week kicks off today with three notable games — and each is important for distinctly different reasons.
For the Chiefs, losers of two straight for the first time in what seems like forever, it’s a chance to right the ship in Philadelphia.
For the Royals, it’s the final game of the 2021 season, and a last chance for Salvador Perez to add to his record haul of homers.
And for Sporting KC, with the season drawing short in Major League Soccer, it’s an opportunity to put points on the board in a tight Western Conference playoff chase that will determine seeding for the looming MLS Cup playoffs.
Appetizing three-course situation, right? Let’s take a bite of these Sunday specials.
Chiefs, Eagles & cheesesteaks, oh my
The Chiefs will be taking their third shot at getting head coach Andy Reid his 100th victory. With the 140 he won as head coach in Philadelphia, that would make Reid the first head coach in NFL history to win 100 or more games with two franchises.
And then there’s this losing-streak thing. The Chiefs aren’t accustomed to losing back to back, let alone three times in a row (though we don’t have to look twice to find the last time they lost two straight or three — remember their 1-5 start in 2015, followed by 10 consecutive victories, en route to the playoffs?).
Next Sunday brings Chiefs-Bills at Arrowhead Stadium, a nighttime rematch of the last AFC Championship Game, won by the Chiefs on the way to Super Bowl LV.
Salvy’s last stand (of 2021)
Salvador Perez has been a monster at the plate. Home runs have been flying out of stadiums across the country all season long when he’s up to bat.
It’s been a ball to watch, to say the least. And we get one more chance to tune in (or be there in person) when the Royals play host to the Minnesota Twins Sunday in a season finale that begins at 2:10 p.m. at Kauffman Stadium.
Tigers have stage to themselves
With both K-State and KU off next weekend, the Missouri Tigers will be the lone college football game in town Saturday. Among area Division I teams, anyway.
The Tigers play host to North Texas (the Mean Green!) Saturday in Columbia.
Women’s soccer ... returns?
Presumably there will be games in the National Women’s Soccer League after this weekend’s postponements in the wake of a scandalous story by The Athletic, detailing alleged sexual coercion by a longtime coach and subsequent inaction on the part of the league office.
KC NWSL had been scheduled to play Saturday. Didn’t happen. All games were called off. KC’s next scheduled game is at home next Sunday, Oct. 10, against the Portland Thorns.
Oh, and speaking of soccer, Sporting KC has just one game between now and an Oct. 17 road match at Vancouver: today (Sunday) at 3 p.m. against the Houston Dynamo at Children’s Mercy Park.
Lace up those shoes
We look a little further ahead for this one, but not much: Sunday one week from today brings the inaugural Greater Kansas City Women’s Half Marathon and 5K, presented by Hy-Vee. The route for the Oct. 10 half starts in Lee’s Summit.
The big Garmin Kansas City Marathon is close at hand, too: It’s set for Saturday, Oct. 16. But we’ll talk more about that next week.