If/when someone seriously challenges Hall of Fame head coach Don Shula’s all-time win record, the magic number shouldn’t be 347.
It should be 349.
Dave Hyde recently explained that Shula doesn’t get credit for a pair of victories in the Playoff Bowl, a third-place game the NFL staged in the 1960s. Shula won it twice with the Colts, capping the 1965 and 1966 seasons.
In 1965, Shula’s Colts beat the Cowboys. The next year, Shula’s Colts beat the Eagles.
“It’s silly to say it’s a vacation deal,” Shula said after the 1966 game, per Hyde. “You couldn’t ask for more desire or effort, and that goes for both teams.”
The Playoff Bowl eventually yielded to the Pro Bowl. But Shula’s victories were wins that happened in the NFL postseason. They should count as postseason wins.
By way of example, Kylian Mbappé’s two goals in Saturday’s World Cup third-place game count toward his 2026 World Cup total and all-time World Cup total, giving him both the Golden Boot for the most goals in the latest tournament and the all-time World Cup goal record, with one more than Lionel Messi.
Without those two goals in a “meaningless” game, Messi would have won the Golden Boot — and Messi would hold the record for the most World Cup goals.
It doesn’t matter that the NFL would never again have a third-place game. It once did. And it was a playoff game, at a time when the NFL staged far fewer playoff games than it now does. Those two wins from the 1965 and 1966 Playoff Bowl should be added to Shula’s record.
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