Bengals: Harrison Butker could have set new record on Sunday

Following the Kansas City Chiefs ' 26-25 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, there have been some questions about whether the team should have attempted a field goal at the end of the first half.

It was fourth-and-11. The was ball spotted half a yard on Kansas City's side of the 50. It would have been a 68-yard field goal attempt for placekicker Harrison Butker, who would have had the wind at his back. If successful, it would have set a new NFL record. But if Butker missed, Cincinnati would have taken over inside Kansas City's 43-yard line with 20 seconds left in the half — and one timeout remaining.

Butker came out on the field, acting as if he was getting ready to kick a field goal — but ultimately, the Chiefs put the punting unit on the field.

On Monday, Kansas City head coach Andy Reid said the long field goal was under consideration "for about a second."

But it appears that special teams coordinator Dave Toub was thinking about for a little longer than his boss.

"In a vacuum, [Butker] could probably hit a 68-yarder," Toub told reporters on Thursday. "With a little bit of wind, I've seen him do it 73 yards. So that kick was very 'makeable' because we had the wind at our back — and I think he hit a 66 in pregame. Then we tried a 73 [in pregame]. The leg was strong enough, but [it went] just a little bit left."

So Toub was good to go.

"I was all in with it," recalled Toub, "[but Coach Reid] was right. He was smart. We looked at the situation: how much time was left on the clock — [and] if you miss it, they get that field position right there and they probably go down and at least kick a field goal. So he was smart, pulling us out and then going with the punt. I was happy Matt made a nice punt there, too."

Toub remains convinced that one day, Butker will kick the longest field goal in league history. All it will take is the right situation.

"If we ran a little bit more time off the clock there [and it] was 10 seconds or so," he explained, "we [would] take a shot at it. We're going to get that chance. [Butker] was [as] disappointed you've seen him; he was disappointed when we took him off. He really thought we were going — [and] I did, too."

On Sunday, the Chiefs also had their first kickoffs returned under the NFL's new rules. Kansas City had seven straight kickoffs become touchbacks before Butker landed a first-quarter kickoff on the 4-yard line. Trayveon Williams returned it to the 24. But when Butker landed another kickoff at the 4 just after the fourth quarter began, Chase Brown returned it to the 32.

Toub said both kickoffs were responses to what the team had seen the Bengals do on film.

"If we see something during the week — [if] they show us a look — we might want to try to try to bang one in there," he explained. "It worked out great on the first one — [but] not so good on the second one. It got to the 32. It's rolling the dice a little bit; it's a risk/reward thing."

Toub noted that drive starts following returned kickoffs are tending to be around the 30-yard line — which isn't going to help the league achieve its stated goal under the new rules: more kickoff returns without increasing injury risk. He would support any idea that made it harder for kicking teams to get touchbacks — including moving the kicker even further back than their own 35-yard line.

"That would make it a lot harder to kick touchbacks, for sure," he noted. "That would be an option. The other option would be, obviously, if it is a touchback, give them that ball at [the] 35. Those are two things that I'm sure they're going to look at if this thing keeps going as it's going."

But Toub also thinks that teams will eventually start returning some kicks that can be fielded a little inside the end zone.

"I think more and more teams are going to start coming out with the ball a little bit [when] it's two or three [yards] deep," he continued. "They might take a shot a little bit more [often] as the season progresses. I think that's gonna happen."

In the meantime, Toub is concentrating on how he will deal with running back Isiah Pacheco's absence. It could easily mean less return work for running back Carson Steele — and more for wideouts Skyy Moore and Mecole Hardman.

"I go to walk-through every day to see who's getting reps, so I can set up my roster," he revealed. "It could be a situation where we don't give Steele as many [reps] — and then go with Skyy and Mecole back there a little bit more."