Has an NFL general manager ever said the expectations are lower this year than the year before?
No, a general manager has never said that.
So it should be no surprise that Kansas City Chiefs GM Scott Pioli said on NFL Network today that expectations are high for this team.
"Expectations should be higher than what they've been in the past. I mean, it's only right," Pioli said Tuesday. "We're in our fourth season in this program. We've done a lot of work to retain very good players in the Derrick Johnsons, the Tamba Halis, the Jamaal Charles and some other players, but we've also added some other good players. I feel we have a really good coaching staff intact, so expectations should be high."
We get caught up looking at the day-to-day with the Chiefs so sometimes its important to step back and look at the big picture. And, in this case, the big picture is that the Chiefs have made the playoffs once in three seasons under Pioli. The all-important third year of a regime resulted in no playoff appearance in KC but we can chalk part of that up to some untimely injuries to important players.
In year four, you have to expect the playoffs. If you don't, something is wrong.