The Chiefs stick to their script, plus college hoops' return

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We joke about the NFL having scripts, but there is something eerie about Kansas City . Consider: Meanwhile, the Bucs — who played extremely well last night — are 4-5 , good for second in the NFC South, which brings us to our next topic: The Saints fired coach Dennis Allen yesterday, a stunning move in the macro and an overdue one in the micro, for the simple fact that the third-year coach once led New Orleans to a blistering 2-0 start this year ..



. and the Saints are now 2-7. Two thoughts from this Saints fan: Allen is this year’s second casualty behind Robert Saleh, which made me wonder: Who’s the next NFL coach fired? Three candidates, per my estimate: I know my bet, but I want to know yours, which brings us to our next Pulse Poll.

Make your voice heard here . Kelce addresses phone toss Jason Kelce , the world’s most recognizable former NFL offensive lineman, spoke briefly at the top of ESPN’s broadcast last night about an incident over the weekend, in which he slammed the phone of a troll who had shouted insults — including a homophobic slur — about Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. “I’m not proud of it,” he said, adding that he regretted greeting “hate with hate.

” His full comments are worth a read . Advertisement McCaffrey’s return is nigh This week, the 4-4 49ers opened the practice window for star running back Christian McCaffrey , who has not played yet this year. This clears the way for him to return in two weeks, after he went on IR in Week 2 with Achilles tendinitis.

It comes when the Niners need him most . Cole staying with Yanks Despite rumors to the contrary, Gerrit Cole will be a New York Yankee in 2025, a league source told The Athletic , adding that the 2023 Cy Young winner and the team will take some more time to discuss a possible contract extension. The 34-year-old still has four years and $144 million left on his contract, but he exercised an opt-out in the deal over the weekend.

See our full report here . More news Men’s and women’s college hoops returned in force last night, which is frankly an overload to the sports calendar we welcome. But it was a lot.

Two main points as we tip off: We also had a top-10 matchup last night on the men’s side: No. 6 Gonzaga throttled No. 8 Baylor, 101-63.

No. 13 Texas A&M also lost. See the full scoreboard here .

📺 Soccer: Sporting vs. Manchester City 3 p.m.

ET on Paramount+ Need some election distraction? Turn on Champions League action to see new Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim try to defeat mighty City in his last game as Sporting manager. 📺 CFB: Miami (Ohio) at Ball State 8 p.m.

ET on ESPN Want to get real distracted? After the debut of this year’s CFP rankings (more below), ESPN has a MACtion twofer on both ESPN and ESPN 2, and this squeaks by as the better game over Bowling Green-Central Michigan. This one matters in the MAC standings , too. Get tickets to games like these here .

🎧 “Scoop City” has the full inside, er, scoop about the Dennis Allen firing in New Orleans. No one more plugged in than Dianna Russini. Listen here .

Joe Rexrode argues that you should watch the College Football Playoff rankings reveal , not election coverage, tonight. Meanwhile, David Ubben made predictions on which CFP teams are going to be mad . We’ll have more on this tomorrow.

Adam Crafton has a stunning report on the bid for the 2026 World Cup , which features cameos from Donald Trump, Jared Kushner and plenty of other political players. Read the full story here . We have an early NHL playoff report from Dom Luszczyszyn ready for us.

What’s up with Boston? Doug Haller filled us in on the latest in the Stephen A. Smith-Kevin Durant beef . Extremely funny.

Missed this, but the World Series played a role in the NFL and Roc Nation’s Super Bowl partnership. Jason Jones explains how . Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday : Our story on Saquon Barkley’s no-look backward hurdle .

Still can’t get over it. Most-read on the website yesterday : Once again, ☝️. 📫 Love The Pulse? Check out The Athletic ’s other newsletters .

(Top photo: Cooper Neill / Getty Images).