Rodgers wants No. 1 seed, winning road record in 2015

Each year, the Green Bay Packers set the same team goals.

They want to win the NFC North. They want to go undefeated at home. They want to split their eight road games down the middle. This, they hope, will lead them to their ultimate goal.

Each year, the Packers strive to win the Super Bowl.

That won't change in 2015, but quarterback Aaron Rodgers added two more goals for next season. He wants Green Bay to secure the NFC's top playoff seed next season, hoping to take advantage of what was the NFL's strongest home-field advantage during 2014. To do that, Rodgers said, the team will probably have to exceed .500 on the road.

"We've got to find a way to get back some of the mojo we had, maybe, a few years ago when we were winning more than half our games on the road," Rodgers said. "Because, obviously, if you look at this year, we go 5-3 on the road and we have the No. 1 seed. Then we're playing everything at home in the playoffs, which teams realized this year is a tough place to play.

"So that's going to be the goal. I think in years past, you talk a lot about winning your division. I think after this season, we can stack on as a goal being a No. 1 seed because we know how much it means to have that home-field advantage."

Rodgers didn't watch Super Bowl XLIX, he said. Another sport stole his attention. There was an "important golf date" for Rodgers to attend, a necessary diversion.

After the New England Patriots' thrilling victory, Rodgers said he sent a congratulatory email to buddy Tom Brady. He also caught the highlights from the game.

Put Rodgers in the group of observers who were surprised the Seattle Seahawks passed instead of handing the football to running back Marshawn Lynch near the goal line within the game's final minute.

"You have a timeout and three downs to get in there," Rodgers said. "I think I, along with everybody else, expected three Marshawn Lynch runs or three read-options from that point, thinking there's no way they could stop them three straight times.

"So, yeah, I was surprised by the call."

The Packers couldn't shake their collective feeling that they should've represented the NFC in Super Bowl XLIX. They were five minutes from the conference title, holding a 12-point lead in Seattle, when everything crumbled.

If Green Bay advances to the NFC championship game in 2015, Rodgers wants to make sure it's hosted at Lambeau Field. It's a departure from the Packers' run to the Super Bowl in 2010, when they won all four playoff games away from Green Bay.

Rodgers said the Packers' offensive evolution makes home field more important than ever.

"The 2010 team was different than the 2014 team," Rodgers said. "We were a lot, I think, more mature team. Our offense was a lot different. We were able to do a lot more on offense in 2014. When you can play at home, you can do obviously a considerable amount more than when you play on the road. As we move forward, continuing to do the things that we do on offense, playing at home is a decided advantage for us."

-- rwood@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @ByRyanWood