After the Kansas City Chiefs’ 26-25 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, there were 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 ball landed half a yard on the side of Kansas City’s 50-yard line. For kicker Harrison Butker, with the wind at his back, it would have been a 68-yard field goal attempt. If successful, it would have set a new NFL record. However, had Butker missed the attempt, Cincinnati would have taken the lead inside Kansas City’s 43-yard line with 20 seconds left in the half and one timeout remaining.

Butker came onto the field and pretended to prepare to kick a field goal, but the Chiefs ultimately sent their punting unit onto the field.

On Monday, Kansas City head coach Andy Reid said the attempt at a long field goal was considered for “about a second.”

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But it seems that special teams coordinator Dave Toub thought a little longer than his boss.

“In a vacuum, (Butker) could probably do a 68-yard kick,” Toub told reporters Thursday. “With a little bit of wind, I saw him do 73 yards. So that kick was very ‘doable’ because we had the wind at our backs — and I think he did 66 yards before the play. Then we tried a 73-yard kick (before the play). The leg was strong enough, but (it went) a little bit to the left.”

So Toub was ready to go.

“I was all in,” Toub recalled, “(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’re going to get that field position right there and probably go down and at least kick a field goal. So he was smart, pulled us out and then made the punt. I was also glad Matt made a nice punt there.”

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

“If we took a little more time off the clock there (and it was) about 10 seconds,” he explained, “we would try. We’ll get that chance. (Butker) was (as) disappointed as you’ve ever seen him; he was disappointed when we took him off the field. He really thought we were going to get it done – (and) I thought so too.”

Sunday also saw the Chiefs’ first kickoffs returned under the new NFL rules. Kansas City had seven consecutive kickoffs that became touchbacks before Butker landed a kickoff at the 4-yard line in the first quarter. Trayveon Williams returned the ball to the 24-yard line. But when Butker landed another kickoff at the 4-yard line shortly after the start of the fourth quarter, Chase Brown returned the ball to the 32-yard line.

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

“If we see something during the week – (if) they give us a look – we might want to try and get one in,” he explained. “The first one worked out great – (but) the second one not so well. It went down to 32. It’s a bit of a gamble; it’s a question of risk and reward.”

Toub noted that drive starts after kickoff returns tend to occur around the 30-yard line — which won’t help the league achieve its stated goal under the new rules: more kickoff returns without increased risk of injury. He would support any idea that makes it harder for kicking teams to score touchbacks — including moving the kicker even farther back than his own 35-yard line.

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“It would certainly make it a lot harder to kick touchbacks,” he noted. “That would be one option. The other option, of course, if it’s a touchback, would be to give them the ball at the 35. Those are two things they’ll certainly look at if this continues the way it is.”

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

“I think more and more teams are going to start pushing the ball a little bit further forward when it’s two or three yards deep,” he continued. “As the season goes on, they might start shooting a little bit more. I think that’s going to happen.”

In the meantime, Toub is focused on how he will handle the absence of running back Isiah Pacheco. That could easily mean running back Carson Steele has less work – and wideouts Skyy Moore and Mecole Hardman have more.

“I go through every day to see who’s getting reps so I can put my roster together,” he revealed. “It could be a situation where we don’t give Steele as many (reps) – and then move Skyy and Mecole a little further back.”