With consecutive losses, the Chiefs have hit a rough patch. Can they work free or are they stuck? Chiefs Insider Pete Sweeney breaks down where things stand with a Chiefs team, coming off the loss in Denver and having to face another division leader this weekend in the Indianapolis Colts.

Also, a shakeup at the Current since falling in their NWSL playoff opener included Vlatko Andonovski the coach who guided the organization’s most successful regular season. Where did he land?

Soccer correspondent Daniel Sperry discusses Current’s moves, plus how Sporting KC can benefit from the MLS’s decision to switch its playing calendar to align with major European leagues.

SportsBeat KC is the sports podcast of The Kansas City Star and KCUR, hosted by Blair Kerkhoff. It’s produced by Randy Mason, Monty Davis, Irvin Zhang, Suzanne Hogan, and Gabriella Lacey, and edited by Jeff Rosen and Scott Chasen.

Not often in the Patrick Mahomes era have the Chiefs looked up in the AFC West standing this late in the season. But here they are in third place with a 5-4 record, making Sunday’s game at the first-place Denver Broncos critical to their division chances.

On SportsBeat KC, Chiefs Insider Pete Sweeney and Star columnist Sam McDowell discuss the game and what it will take for the Chiefs to capture a 10th straight AFC West title — and if rookie left tackle Josh Simmons returns this week, how much should he play?

Also, Star soccer correspondent Daniel Sperry breaks down the crushing end to the KC Current’s playoff run, a loss to Gotham FC in the NWSL quarterfinals.

Sports Beat KC is the sports podcast of The Kansas City Star and KCUR, hosted by Blair Kerkhoff. It’s produced by Randy Mason, Irvin Zhang, Suzanne Hogan, and Gabriella Lacey, and edited by Jeff Rosen and Scott Chasen.

The Chiefs have crossed the halfway point of their schedule, and if the season ended today they wouldn’t be in the playoffs. It’s a strange place to be for the team that’s played in five of the last six Super Bowls.

On SportsBeat KC, the sports podcast of The Kansas City Star and KCUR, Star columnist Sam McDowell shares his thoughts on where thing stand with the Chiefs, starting with Sunday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills. The sequence at the end of the first half in which the Chiefs settled for a field goal from the 1, was critical in the outcome, according to McDowell.

As the Chiefs head into a bye week, we look at the second half of the season and speculate what it’s going to take to make the postseason for an 11th straight year.

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