DETROIT -- Bring on the playoffs. At Lambeau Field. The colder the better.

That’s how Aaron Rodgers wants it.

And thanks to another "winning ugly" game in a season full of them on the way to a 13-3 finish, the Green Bay Packers will have that chance.

Yes, Rodgers made his first and only Super Bowl in the 2010 postseason, when two of the four games were in climate-controlled indoor stadiums where he put up massive passing numbers, but this season the Packers might be better off outdoors.

That idea brought a smile to Rodgers’ face after the Packers eked out a 23-20 win over the Detroit Lions in the season finale at Ford Field. It gave the Packers a first-round playoff bye and the No. 2 seed in the NFC.

“I think the NFC is wide open,” Rodgers said. “There’s six really good football teams that are in, and I think home-field advantage can be really important. Green Bay is a tough place to come and play.

“I feel like this team can utilize the cold better than some of those other teams that relied on heavy passing games, where we’re a little more balanced this year.”

Running back Aaron Jones and kicker Mason Crosby, two of the heroes indoors in Week 17, could prove to be even bigger difference-makers in cold-weather playoff games.

Jones carried 25 times for 100 yards and perhaps more importantly took a screen pass and slipped free for 31 yards in the final minute to set up Crosby’s game-winning, 33-yard field goal. Jones' performance Sunday put him over 1,000 yards rushing for the first time in his career (1,084 to be exact), and although he didn’t find the end zone in the regular-season finale, he finished with the second-highest rushing touchdown total in team history (19).

And then there’s Crosby, the 13th-year kicker who put the finishing touches on one of his finest seasons in the same building where last season he had perhaps his worst game. He missed five kicks in last year’s loss at Ford Field. Since then, he has made 107 of his past 112 kicks (field goals and extra points).

Although he missed a 51-yarder on Sunday, he made his other three kicks, including the one at the gun that gave the Packers their only lead of the game. It was the same story in the first meeting at Lambeau Field, where Crosby’s game winner also gave the Packers their only lead. According to Elias Sports Bureau, it’s only the second time in NFL history that a team won both games in a season against an opponent despite not holding the lead in regulation.

“Now we have the opportunity to host a second-round game at home and hopefully it’s below 30 [degrees],” Rodgers said. “But I think we’re going to be a tough team to deal with in the playoffs.”

Another slow start from Rodgers, who overthrew receivers at a record rate on Sunday, could spell doom in the postseason, and Rodgers knows it. But, as he said last week, this team doesn’t always need him to save the day.

Rodgers had help from Jones, Crosby and Davante Adams (seven catches for 93 yards and a touchdown), as well as Allen Lazard (a touchdown catch) and an opportunistic defense that on Sunday got back-to-back big plays from Blake Martinez (a sack followed immediately by an interception) to set up Lazard’s score.

It all added up to another postgame celebration.

In a season filled with joyous locker room moments, none felt more important than Crosby’s.

Not only did Crosby bounce back from last year to make 22 of 24 field goals this season for a personal best of 91.7%, he did it in perhaps his most difficult season off the field. He won a training camp competition to retain his job all while his wife was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in her lung. She had it removed the day after the preseason finale and was in attendance when Crosby kicked the first game winner against the Lions in October.

Then, in late November, his brother Rees’ wife, Brittany, died of ovarian cancer. Two days later, he returned to the team and received the game ball after making a 47-yard field goal in the blowing snow in a win over the Giants.

Before Sunday’s game, Crosby got his usual game-day text from Rees, who has been sending his brother inspirational messages before every game of his NFL career.

Sunday’s was: “There’s going to be a moment, step up and be the man.”

“His words are always pretty profound, honestly,” Crosby said. “It’s pretty awesome. I feel like it was a fitting one for today.”

And Sunday’s win was a fitting one for a season in which few games have been a sure thing.

“We don’t blink,” Jones said. “We stay together. We stay as a team. We don’t let anything stop us, and we just come in here at halftime refocused, and we know we’ve got to do it. No matter how you win, you get it done. A ‘W’ is a ‘W.’”