For quite a long time, the Pittsburgh Steelers held just about any postseason record you might want. They have lost some ground in recent years, including sole possession of the most Super Bowl titles when the New England Patriots won their sixth. The San Francisco 49ers can threaten to win theirs this season.
But at least for this week, the Steelers have a chance to gain back some ground. Since 2018, they have stood in second place for the most postseason victories in NFL history behind the Patriots’ 37. Pittsburgh is one behind at 36—and one team is guaranteed to tie New England this weekend, so the Steelers will have to keep pace.
You see, there are three other teams tied with 36 postseason victories, and two of them happen to be playing each other this weekend. The second-seeded Dallas Cowboys are hosting the seventh-seeded Green Bay Packers, and whoever wins will secure their 37th all-time victory in an NFL postseason game.
The Steelers, also a seventh seed like the Packers, will have to beat the Buffalo Bills to get their 37th win. No seventh seed has ever won a postseason game before though only six have ever before had the opportunity to try. The seventh seed, one in each conference, was added in 2020. Twice, they have come close, and on both occasions, the second seed they faced was the Bills. I’m not saying, I’m just saying.
While the Patriots didn’t even come close to qualifying for the postseason, and their record is at least guaranteed to be tied by virtue of two teams one game behind them facing each other, it’s more than that. The other team sitting at 36 wins is the 49ers, who are the top seed in the NFC. They won’t play this week because they have a bye, but they are widely recognized as the best team in the conference and the Super Bowl favorites. Chances are good that either the 49ers or Cowboys will win at least two games and become the first team in NFL history to have 38 postseason wins.
Dallas continues to hold the record for the most postseason games played at 66, three more than the Steelers in second place, Green Bay at 61 the only other team in the 60s. Pittsburgh is tied with the Baltimore Ravens for the fourth-best postseason winning percentage in NFL history at .571. The Patriots (.627), 49ers (.610), and Packers (.590) claim the three highest percentages.
As for the Steelers, they have been stuck at 36 wins since 2016, the last time they won a postseason game. They won two that year before losing to the Patriots in the conference finals and have gone 0-3 since then.
If they do lose to the Bills, not only will they fall to likely fourth place in all-time postseason wins, but they will also be tied for the third-longest active postseason futility streak at five with the Washington Commanders. The Miami Dolphins are now second after losing their sixth consecutive playoffs game Saturday night Kansas City, behind only the Detroit Lions. And the Lions, having lost nine in a row, have a good chance of ending their run.
