I doubt NASA or anyone with full information expected a failure to land safely, it was always the most likely outcome. But they have firm criteria for crew risk (LOC = 1/270), and if the risk had gone above that value, then the chosen alternative was the correct decision.
Boeing’s challenge is to make Starliner reliable and trustworthy, which it presently is not. I’m not picking on Boeing, if any other company had similar, ongoing issues that cast doubt on vehicle safety and reliability, they would be dealing with the same. It’s just that Boeing seems to have these sorts of issues company-wide…