Craig: Rodgers always gives Packers an edge

Four hundred and seventy-seven.

Remember that number. We'll explain it after presenting this quote from coach Mike McCarthy, whose Packers take an 8-0 home record into Sunday's NFC divisional playoff game against a Cowboys team that's 8-0 on the road.

"I think our football team is built for Lambeau," said McCarthy, who has won four consecutive NFC North titles, reached the playoffs six straight years and has a 57-21-1 home record since being hired six days after the Vikings hired Brad Childress in January of 2006.

McCarthy is right. Running back Eddie Lacy — a top-seven rusher with 1,139 yards, a 4.6-yard average and nine touchdowns in the past eight games — gives Green Bay a powerful rushing presence for Frozen Tundra football. And Dom Capers' defense certainly did its part in helping the Packers outscore their visitors 189-30 in the first half of the final seven home games this season.

But let's not kid ourselves. The Packers are built for Lambeau Field because Aaron Rodgers is the closest thing to a mistake-free quarterback the NFL has ever seen.

Now, about that number, 477. That's how many passes Rodgers has thrown at Lambeau Field since a non-Packers employee caught the ball before it hit the ground.

Vikings safety Harrison Smith was the last person to intercept Rodgers at Lambeau Field. It happened on Dec. 2, 2012. Since then, Rodgers has completed 68.4 percent of his passes for 4,341 yards and 38 touchdowns with no interceptions at Lambeau Field, including playoffs.

"He looks like he's moving fine to me," McCarthy said. "So we're not going to change our approach as to how we want to attack Dallas' defense."

Seven years ago, Brett Favre threw his final pass as a Packer. It came two snaps into overtime in the NFC title game against the visiting Giants.

The temperature was minus-1 with a windchill of minus-23 at kickoff. The face of Giants coach Tom Coughlin had turned 10 different shades of red before Corey Webster intercepted that final Favre pass to set up the winning field goal five plays later.

Seven years later, the thought of Rodgers making that same careless throw is unfathomable. And that brings us to what might be the best way to describe Rodgers' greatness: He's so good that he makes you question how good Favre really was.

Yes, they're both very good and certain Hall of Famers. But imagine that you're McCarthy. You open your NFL head coaching career with Favre as your quarterback for two seasons. Then you get seven years — and counting — with a guy who clearly is better.

Rodgers has posted four 110-plus passer ratings in eight postseason games. Joe Montana, who's widely considered the most efficient quarterback in NFL history, did it six times in 23 postseason games. Favre did it five times in 24 postseason games.

Among all NFL quarterbacks with at least 160 postseason passes, Packers Hall of Famer Bart Starr ranks No. 1 in passer rating at 104.8. Rodgers is No. 2 at 103.6.

In career passer rating, Rodgers ranks No. 1 at 106.0. Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is second at 97.6, followed by Peyton Manning (97.5).

On the road this season, Romo completed 71 percent of his passes for 1,933 yards and 20 touchdowns with two interceptions. But Rodgers did even better at home, completing 67 percent of his passes for 2,334 yards and 25 touchdowns with no interceptions.

In NFL history, the top three home passer ratings for an entire season are: 1. Rodgers in 2014 (133.2); 2. Rodgers in 2011 (128.5); and, let's see, 3. Rodgers in 2013 (126.3).

The Packers are 16-5 at home in the postseason. The last playoff meeting between these teams at Lambeau Field was a Green Bay win in the 1967 NFL title game, which is commonly referred to as "The Ice Bowl."

In the coldest game in NFL history — minus-13 with a minus-48 windchill — the teams combined to complete only 25 of 50 passes. The weather and accuracy are expected to be much better on Sunday.

The Packers are more of a blitzing defense, so Romo probably will be under more pressure. McCarthy was asked if he expects the Cowboys to blitz more than they've shown this season.

He kind of shrugged his shoulders as if it didn't matter. That's a common reaction when Rodgers is your quarterback.

"We've always liked playing against pressure," McCarthy said. "If you look at Aaron's passer rating against pressure, it's pretty good. With his vision, anticipation, understanding and ability to get the ball out of his hand, we would welcome pressure."