Aaron Rodgers knew it in the aftermath of the last year’s NFC title game defeat: The Green Bay Packers need to be playing more games at Lambeau Field during the postseason.

A loser of his second NFC title game in three years, Rodgers stepped to the podium in Atlanta and called it “tough” to win on the road in the playoffs, noting how “important” having home-field advantage is advancing to the Super Bowl.

Rodgers also knows home playoff games will require better starts to the season.

“Well, we got to start faster,” Rodgers said, according to an interview with NFL Network. “We didn’t start fast last year, we lost four in a row in the middle there. We’re a tough team to beat late in the season, as we’ve shown the last couple years. But we’re really tough to beat at home, especially the last three, four, five years.”

“We got to get those home playoff games again. We all feel like if we get that No. 1, No. 2 seed and it’s coming through Green Bay in the playoffs, it makes it really tough on other teams.”

The Packers started 4-6 but scrambled to the playoffs last season, using a six-game win streak to claim the NFC North title. Being a division winner guaranteed a home game during the wild card round, but trips to Dallas and Atlanta for back-to-back games were too much for the Packers to overcome.

Green Bay has lost away from Lambeau Field during each of the last three postseasons.

Securing home-field advantage will almost certainly require a fast start in 2017. The Packers open at home against the Seattle Seahawks and on the road against the Falcons. Wins over Seattle and Atlanta – two of the conference’s best teams – could set the Packers on a course for the NFC playoffs running through Lambeau Field.

Clearly, Rodgers has a goal in mind for the 2017 season: Start fast, so that the benefits of home can help the Packers get back to the Super Bowl.