The temptation to be content can be alluring.
The Kansas City Chiefs have turned a 4-12 campaign last year into a 10-6 record and their first AFC West championship since 2003. But many NFL analysts and pundits have already picked Kansas City to fall to the Ravens in Sunday's AFC Wildcard game, and the Ravens are favored by 3 points.
Reaching the playoffs, however, isn't the ultimate goal for the Chiefs.
"You can't look at it like that," linebacker Derrick Johnson said during a conference call with Baltimore media Wednesday. "We don't look at it like that. When you get yourself in the tournament, you're trying to win it all, and it comes one game at a time. You'd be selling yourself short if you go into the playoffs thinking, 'We didn't do that good last year, we did well this year, that's it. That's good enough.' No. It's our desire to win every year and why not go for it all? That's what we're trying to do."
Playing meaningful football in January seemed to be a remote option for Kansas City, a once-proud franchise that captured three American Football League titles between 1960 and 1969 and Super Bowl IV in 1969.
But from 2004 to 2008, the Chiefs compiled a 32-48 record with three sub-.500 records and just one postseason appearance.
After a 2008 season that ended with a 2-14 mark, the organization dismissed Herm Edwards and offered head coaching duties to Todd Haley. Haley, an offensive coordinator with an Arizona Cardinals team that had just lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl, said he knew why the position was offered to him.
"The job was available for a reason, said Haley, who had never been a head coach on any level. "I got the opportunity to come in here and be the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs because they had been struggling for an extended period of time. So it was a big job, not a real pleasant job, especially last year. But there's a process that you go through."
That process included jettisoning running back Larry Johnson and tight end Tony Gonzalez and adding quarterback Matt Cassel and free safety Jon McGraw. But the team limped to a 4-12 finish, and Haley's yo-yo treatment of star wide receiver Dwayne Bowe raised questions about his ability to co-exist with players.
Kansas City took a more proactive role in the offseason, signing former Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis – who recently left for Florida – and former Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel as the team's offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively.
The organization introduced running back Thomas Jones of the New York Jets to diversify the offense and beefed up the offensive line, adding center Casey Wiegmann of the Denver Broncos and right guard Ryan Lilja of the Indianapolis Colts to protect Cassel.
Finally, the franchise selected a draft class that includes three starters in strong safety Eric Berry (first round), tight end Tony Moeaki (third) and free safety Kendrick Lewis (fifth) and a pair of contributors in wide receiver Dexter McCluster (second) and cornerback Javier Arenas (second).
The results have been dramatic. Not only did the team improve in the wins department, but the Chiefs enjoyed marked improvement in such statistical categories as rush offense (11th in 2009 to first this season), total defense (30th to 14th), points scored per game (23th to 14th) and points allowed per game (29th to 11th).
"It takes time, it takes work, but you set expectations, you let the players know what's expected of them and how we're going to do things, and now we're two years into that process," Haley said. "So we made progress throughout last year, we've made progress through a second offseason together. We've continued to bring in personnel upgrades that create competition at as many positions as we can, and we're making progress. We're not there yet, but we are making progress. I feel like we've got it going in the right direction, and we've just got to continue to get better every day."
Johnson said another factor has been getting acclimated to what the coaching staff has mapped out.
"They've brought a lot of experience to this team, the coordinators on both sides of the ball," Johnson said. "We have a lot of respect for them. Todd does a great job of getting this team ready to go during the week. He's a great motivator, a passionate guy about what we need to get done on Sunday. He's like a kid in a candy store. He's loving the success that's going on right now, and everybody's in the boat. Everybody's buying into the system."
Kansas City's transformation hasn't surprised Ravens wide receiver Anquan Boldin, who spent two seasons with Haley as he shaped the Cardinals offense from an average unit to one that ranked fourth in average yards and third in average points in 2008.
"I think he's real knowledgeable about the game, especially on offense," Boldin said Wednesday. "But I think his best attribute is him bringing the best out of different players and using them to their strengths. That's what he did when we were in Arizona, and he found what guys could do well. He maximized."
Many odds makers think the Chiefs' season won't extend beyond this weekend, but Johnson said the team isn't listening to outsiders.
"You can't look to the media and look into the papers and look into the news because the Ravens have had a lot of success in the playoffs, and we haven't lately," he said. "We haven't been here lately. So we're sure they're going to be favored, but that's football. That's why we play the game. We respect them a lot, so they should be."
Added Haley: "This is new for our team. We've got some guys with some experience at this stage of the season, but not a lot. And we're a team in transition that wasn't a very good team for a period of time that is trying to change that and has made progress. But we're not there yet, and we've got a lot of work to do. So each and every one of these experiences is a big one for our team and its development."