Don Shula’s official win total sits at 347 combined victories, but for decades, the NFL has controversially rescinded two of his wins from his record, including a key Playoff Bowl triumph over Tom Landry’s Dallas Cowboys. That single game from the 1965 season, played on January 9, 1966, saw Shula’s Baltimore Colts defeat the Cowboys 35-3, yet it is now part of a historical controversy that still impacts the league’s record books.
The Forgotten Playoff Bowl and Modern Parallels
Back during the 1965 season, the Dallas Cowboys finished as the Western Conference runner-up with a 7-7 record, setting up that fateful date with the Colts. This “Playoff Bowl” was essentially a third-place match, much like what we see in the World Cup format today. After the Colts’ decisive victory, the NFL would years later rescind that win from Shula’s official count, as well as another victory against the Eagles from a year later. If those games counted, Shula’s true win total should be 349, not 347.
The NFL controversy may have been lost to time, but the recent World Cup actually shed light on the situation. We saw France play England in their own third-place game, and while France’s star Kylian Mbappé benefited from additional stats, his view on such a consolation game speaks volumes. Mbappé told FOX Sports in French, “I would have preferred not to be the top scorer in history and play in the match tomorrow.” His words perfectly capture the lingering debate around games that are played with full effort but lack championship stakes.
A Battle Over Legacy and Records
Critics of the current NFL record-keeping point to a glaring inconsistency: if these games were played, if they counted in the standings at the time, and if they required full effort from players and coaches, why shouldn’t they be included in official records? The 1965 Cowboys media guide even shows the Playoff Bowl was scheduled just like every other game that season. That grey area is where this entire controversy lives.
On the flip side, traditionalists argue that the Playoff Bowl lacked true championship stakes. It was often viewed as a consolation game and even derided by some figures of that era. Because of that perception, the NFL has stubbornly continued to exclude these results from official postseason and coaching records. This decision has real-world implications, too. While longtime Patriots coach Bill Belichick sits “closet” to Shula with 333 combined wins, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, with 307 victories, has a real chance to surpass the legendary Shula in the coming years. Tom Landry, for his part, sits in fifth place with 270 combined victories.
It’s not just the coaches’ records either. Even player statistics from that nearly shut-out 1965 Cowboys loss, including those from quarterback Don Meredith, Hall-of-Fame defensive lineman Bob Lilly, and running back Don Perkins, were wiped away from the official books. For Cowboys fans, that 1965 loss represents an early chapter in the franchise’s climb towards relevance. For historians, it represents something complicated. But for Don Shula, it leaves behind a lingering question linked to a Cowboys loss over 60 years ago and counting.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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