Lords a Leaping: Rodgers Can Tie Favre

 By Eric Goska

Lambeau Field an hour or so before kickoff.
(photos by Eric Goska)

Nearly 15 years ago, this author penned “The Lord of Lambeau,” a short piece for inclusion in the book “Favre: The Total Package.”

With the Packers’ 41-17 dismantling of the Vikings on New Year’s Day, it’s time for an update.

A win by the Green and Gold at Lambeau Field is always reason to celebrate. Pummeling Minnesota by 24 is enough to warrant shutting down the NFL’s smallest city for a week, especially considering the victory keeps Green Bay (8-8) in line for a playoff berth.

Since 1992, no team has won more often at home in the regular season than the Packers. Two quarterbacks have supplied most of those victories: Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.

Prior to Favre making his first start against the Steelers on Sept. 27, 1992, the Packers had gone 73-72-4 at Lambeau. For most opponents, a stop there was nothing more than another game on the schedule.

By the time Favre departed Green Bay, he had fashioned an 89-28 regular-season record at the stadium. The team won 25 straight from 1995-1998.

Rodgers is poised to tie Favre’s record for wins at the historic venue. He’s 88-20-1 heading into the season finale with the Lions.

Time to set the record straight. There are two Lords of Lambeau. Two fierce competitors who ensured opponent after opponent left Lambeau Field on the short end of the scoreboard.

Rodgers did little to add to his resume Sunday. He completed 15 of 24 passes for 159 yards and a touchdown. The 159 yards are his third fewest in victory at the stadium behind the 156 against the Vikings in 2014 and 143 against the Panthers in 2020.

If that’s a big ho-hum, so be it. There have been plenty of other occasions where his play carried the day.

Rodgers has defeated every one of the other 31 teams in the NFL at Lambeau Field at least once. He’s dispatched the Bears 13 times, the Lions 10 and the Vikings 9.

Pick a month and Rodgers is a winner. He’s especially tough to beat late in the season, having gone 28-4 in games played in December or January.

Rodgers is a record holder. He’s thrown for more yards (29,153) and more touchdowns (250) than anyone else. His passer rating (108.8) is highest of any player with at least 100 attempts.

No. 12 has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 103 of his 109 starts at Lambeau Field. He’s been interception free 74 times as a starter. Only once, in a 17-0 win over Seattle in 2021, has he thrown more interceptions than touchdown passes in a game.

Finally, Rodgers has never had a losing season at the stadium. His closest call came in 2008 when the team went 4-4, his first year as a starter. He has never lost more than two in a row at 1265 Lombardi Avenue.

Of course, none of this means much when the Lions roll into town. Rodgers and his teammates must put in the work if they hope to end Detroit’s season.

Should they do that, Green Bay makes the playoffs. And Rodgers can finally say that no one has won more often than he at arguably the most iconic stadium in the league.

Let’s Get Started

Twenty-six players have started a regular-season game at QB for the Packers at Lambeau Field.

Name	W	L	T	Pct.
Brett Favre	89	28	0	.761
Aaron Rodgers	88	20	1	.812
Bart Starr	28	14	2	.648
Lynn Dickey	15	12	0	.556
David Whitehurst	6	5	1	.542
Lamar McHan	5	0	0	1.000
Scott Hunter	5	4	1	.550
Don Majkowski	5	8	0	.385
John Hadl	3	2	0	.600
Matt Flynn	2	1	0	.667

The rest: John Roach (1-0), Don Horn (1-0), Alan Risher (1-1), Anthony Dilweg (1-1), Babe Parilli (1-2), Brett Hundley (1-4), Randy Wright (1-11), Scott Tolzien (0-0-1), Jack Concannon (0-1), Carlos Brown (0-1), Blair Kiel (0-1), Seneca Wallace (0-1), Zeke Bratkowski (0-2), Jim Zorn (0-2), Mike Tomczak (0-2), Jerry Tagge (0-3).