Aaron Rodgers Can Restore His, Lambeau Field's Playoff Mystique with Cowboys Win

The man, the myth and the legend became inseparable.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre. Lambeau Field. The frozen tundra. Invincible in the cold, unbeatable at home in the playoffs. Hordes of fans digging the snow out of the hallowed stadium themselves, donning cheeseheads to cheer him on and going home happy.

During 16 seasons—and 11 postseasons—in Green Bay, NFL fans everywhere got used to hearing Favre's cold-weather record intoned by broadcasters before every snowy battle.

But on Jan. 20, 2008, with the air temperature a bitter minus-1 degree and the wind chill a stunning minus-23, the New York Giants came into Lambeau and pulled off a 23-20 upset.

Favre's last pass in green and gold, a season-ending interception in overtime, shattered his cold-weather mystique once and for all. Nobody could have guessed it'd be the end of the Packers' cold-weather advantage, too.

Tom Lynn/Associated Press

You can't fault Aaron Rodgers for much. In his seven seasons as the starter, he's achieved everything a quarterback can achieve. He's won everything a quarterback can win. He's the best quarterback on the planet, a fact just affirmed by 44 of The Associated Press' 50 All-Pro voters. With him under center, the Packers have won their division each of the last four seasons.

Rodgers' lone postseason triumph is a phenomenal one: In 2010, he led the No. 6-seed Packers to three straight road wins and a Super Bowl victory.

Outside of that, though, his track record is shaky. Excepting 2010, the Packers are 1-4 in five postseason appearances with Rodgers at the helm. They're 1-2 at home, with both losses coming as bitter surprises.

In 2011, the 15-1 Packers were breathtakingly dominant. A clear favorite to repeat as Super Bowl champions, their run seemed to retroactively justify their underdog run to the 2010 title. Then, Rodgers and the Packers took a pratfall. The New York Giants—who else?—came in to Lambeau in the divisional round and hung a 37-20 loss on the champs.

The Packers won 11 games in 2012 but were a more balanced team than the 2011 squad. Their scoring offense fell from No. 1 to No. 5, but their scoring defense improved from 19th-best to 11th. Surely, many thought, they were more prepared for the playoffs. The answer seemed to come in the affirmative when the Packers treated their fans to the only home playoff win of the Aaron Rodgers era: a 24-10 stroll past the upstart Minnesota Vikings.

Just as it seemed the Packers were going to make good on their 2011 slip-up, Colin Kaepernick and the San Francisco 49ers undid everything. Their read-option attack shredded the Packers defense to the tune of 45 points; Rodgers and the Packers mustered just two offensive touchdowns before the final hopeless minute.

Mike Roemer/Associated Press

An injury to Rodgers marred the 2013 season, but his thrilling Week 17 return and last-second derring-do lifted the Packers over the Chicago Bears and clinched the NFC North title. Again they hosted the 49ers, and again they couldn't contain Kaepernick. The 23-20 loss was much closer, but the result was the same: game over.

It's tempting to think of Rodgers as a youngster. After all, he'd only been the Packers quarterback a few years when they won it all, and that was only a few years ago. But he was drafted in 2005, nearly a decade ago, and turned 31 in December.

Rodgers has shown no signs of slowing down and likely won't for a few more years. Yet the Packers only have so many bites at this apple with this current nucleus. Dominating the NFL in 2011 and 2012 and coming away with nothing will sting bitterly if Green Bay can't keep the Bears, Lions and Vikings at bay for another four consecutive years.

This weekend, the Packers are hosting Tony Romo and the red-hot Dallas Cowboys. As Bleacher Report NFL Lead Writer Mike Freeman pointed out, the Cowboys are a nightmare matchup for the Packers. Their balanced, explosive offense can move the ball and score points against anyone.

As good as Romo's been this season, he's been even better on the road. The Cowboys are undefeated when traveling this year and have been the only team to go into CenturyLink Field and beat the Seattle Seahawks.

Dallas' defense doesn't have many star-power players and has gone soft for stretches. But the Cowboys' stats are solid (they ranked 15th in scoring defense), and they're capable of making plays when they need to. Just ask the Detroit Lions, who Dallas held to six points in the last three quarters of the Wild Card Round matchup.

If Rodgers and the Packers can take care of business in the bitter cold—Odds Shark lists them as six-point favorites—they'll likely travel to Seattle for the chance to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. Packers fans will get their money's worth, Lambeau's reputation as a cold-weather fortress will be restored and Rodgers will put another feather in his relatively bare postseason cap.

For all the reasons Favre was rightly celebrated, though, perhaps his icy mystique was a little overblown. After all, he quarterbacked the Packers more than twice as long as Rodgers has, and he didn't win more than one Super Bowl either.

If Rodgers can topple the Cowboys at home, beat the Seahawks on the road and bring a second Lombardi Trophy back home to Titletown, he'll outshine the man from whose shadow he emerged—not for the first time, and maybe not for the last.