What is the standard for this upcoming season?

[WeezyBengal]

I think it's important that we define what the "standard" is for this team heading into the season. What are the expectations, the goals, and the assumptions?

If you would have asked me this question last year at this time, my answer would have been completely different from what it is now. I would have said I would have been "thrilled" with simply a winning record.

Well, times have changed, obviously. I think many of us would be disappointed with a winning record and missing the playoffs at the end of the 2022 season.

I think this is also important when it comes to evaluating coaching performances. I know it sounds crazy, but the jury is still out on ZT in my opinion. I need to see sustained success and growth from year to year.

For me, the realistic expectation/goal is to win the AFC North and AT LEAST win a playoff game. If this happens, I think this team continues to trend in the right direction - especially as our young guys continue to gain experience and hit their primes.

And this is me being realistic. I'm not going to sit here and say "Super Bowl or bust!" because I know just how hard it is to make that happen. I also know things change from year to year like schedule difficulty and teams around our team improve. The AFC is much more difficult this year than it was last year.

So, what do you think the expectations and goals are heading into 2022? Division Title? Playoff win? AFC Championship? Or do you just simply "want some butts!" if we don't make the Super Bowl again?