Scott Pioli Says Expectations Are High For Chiefs In 2012

Unless you have been living under a rock these last few months, you know that expectations for the 2012 Kansas City Chiefs are quite high among fans.

Apparently, they’re high in the front office as well.

Chiefs GM Scott Pioli appeared on NFL AM this morning and said he expects more from his team in 2012.

“Expectations should be higher than what they’ve been in the past,” said Pioli. “I mean, it’s only right. 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.

“And when I say that, I don’t just mean for the coaches and players, for me, as well. We’re all in this together and I don’t know how high they should be, but they should certainly increase. Pressure’s a good thing. Pressure makes everybody respond to the way that they truly are and I think the pressure of increased expectations isn’t a bad thing necessarily.”

This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. If the goal for every team isn’t to win the Super Bowl every season then something is wrong.

Still, regardless of the goal, everyone knows that some years a team’s chances are much better than others.

Pioli is right to confirm the high expectations. The team has done a good job of locking up most of their star players as well as adding talent. The core of this Chiefs team may be made up of guys Herm Edwards drafted but Pioli has added guys like Eric Berry, Stanford Routt, Peyton Hillis, Jonathan Baldwin, Justin Houston, Eric Winston, Kendrick Lewis, Jon Asamoah, Tony Moeaki, Kevin Boss and Ryan Lilja. All of those guys are going to key contributors in 2012.

The sky is certainly the limit for the 2012 Chiefs and they know it.

Hopefully they are up to the task.