The Cowboys go into Green Bay this weekend with road-field advantage.
The Packers went 8-0 at Lambeau Field this season, but that was a lot easier to pull off than what Dallas did in becoming just the sixth NFL team since the schedule was expanded in 1978 to go 8-0 on the road.
When you combine that with Aaron Rodgers' lingering calf injury and a Green Bay team that has been surprisingly beatable at home in the playoffs this century, it's easy to see why it's the Cowboys — not the Packers — who seem to have momentum on their side entering Sunday's NFC divisional showdown.
"We all respect Green Bay," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told reporters this week. "We've had some good experiences, some not-so-good experiences and some trying experiences up there in Green Bay. I'd rather them come here, but we sure feel good right now [about] being in Green Bay."
History says Jones and his team have reason to be confident, and not just because "good-luck charm" Chris Christie plans to be there.
Of the five previous teams that went 8-0 on the road since the 16-game schedule was adopted, four advanced to the Super Bowl and two won it. And the only that didn't make it reached the conference title game (the 49ers in 1990, when they lost to the Giants).
Dallas also will be facing the NFL's MVP favorite at much less than full speed after an MRI exam Wednesday revealed Rodgers suffered a partially torn calf muscle in his left leg when he aggravated the injury in Week 17.
That means Rodgers, normally one of the league's most dangerous scramblers, will be a lot less mobile — especially with temperatures that could dip into single-digits by the second half on Sunday.
That's not to say the Cowboys — who are making their first playoff trip to Lambeau Field since the Ice Bowl in 1967 — would have been intimidated even if Rodgers were at full speed.
After all, one of Dallas' eight road wins this season was a 30-23 upset of the Seahawks in Seattle. The Cowboys were just the second team since 2011 (joining last season's Cardinals) to overcome the Seahawks' famed "12th Man" advantage at CenturyLink Field.
Aaron Rodgers will play Sunday against the Cowboys with a partially torn calf muscle in his left leg, an injury he aggravated in Week 17 against the Lions.Photo: UPI
The Packers certainly are wary of the Cowboys' road prowess, which Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy credited with helping Dallas rally for a 24-20 wild-card win over the Lions at home last week.
Interestingly, the Cowboys were just 4-4 at home in the regular season.
"They have that mental toughness to just keep going," McCarthy told reporters Monday. "You don't win eight games on the road without that, that's for sure.
"I mean, they're down 14-0 in the Detroit game and they just keep battling. It's something that definitely jumps off the stat sheet when you see the eight wins on the road. This will be a big challenge."
It's even more of a challenge considering how beatable the once-invincible Packers have become at home in the playoffs. Green Bay never had lost a home postseason game until 2002, but the Packers are just 3-4 at Lambeau in the postseason since.
That includes two losses to the Giants and a 23-20 loss to the 49ers in the divisional round last year in which Green Bay blew a fourth-quarter lead and allowed San Francisco to score the go-ahead points twice in the final 10 minutes.
The Packers' lone Super Bowl title in that span came in 2010 — when they were a wild-card team and didn't have a home game.
"Not good enough," Rodgers said of the Packers' playoff performances since the storied franchise's most recent Lombardi Trophy.
With the NFL's only unbeaten road team this season up next, Rodgers and the Packers might need a great performance just to survive.
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