GREEN BAY, Wis. — A phenomenal month behind him and the rest of the team, quarterback Aaron Rodgers considers the arrival of December just as vital to fulfilling the Green Bay Packers’ season goals.

Rodgers talked at his Lambeau Field locker after practice Thursday of the urgency that is ratcheted up for a team that is now the favorite to win the Super Bowl.

Green Bay goes into the final month of the regular season a winner in eight of its last nine games but not taking anything for granted. The Packers are 9-3, tied for the best record in the league.

“I think our youth helps us in that sense,” said Rodgers, who, after turning 31 on Tuesday, is in the minority as an older player on the club. “We’re young enough to not realize any different, maybe feel the added pressure that goes with December football.

“Both teams will be feeling it,” he added, referring to the NFC North-leading Packers’ matchup with the NFC South co-leading Atlanta Falcons on Monday night at Lambeau. “There’s an urgency that picks up, a focus, and we have to play our best football this week and realize we’re in some tough races, obviously for the division (title), which is our first goal, and then after that anything is a bonus.”

Of course, the Packers crave more than capturing the NFC North crown for the fourth consecutive season.

Given their sheer dominance at home this season, where they are 6-0 and have outscored the opposition by an average margin of 41-18, Green Bay has its sights on securing the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs h. The Packers view home-field advantage as the surest way to get back to the Super Bowl for the first time since winning it following the 2010 season.

Yet, even after hanging on for an impressive 26-21 win over the New England Patriots at Lambeau last Sunday in what many feel was a Super Bowl preview, Green Bay doesn’t have the luxury of coasting the last four weeks of the regular season. No matter that the Packers are close to being two-touchdown favorites against the Falcons (5-7), who are scrapping with the New Orleans Saints for first place in the futile NFC South.

Green Bay also should be prohibitive favorites the subsequent two weeks on the road against the Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Yet, a slip-up in any of the next three games could be devastating as Green Bay tries to fend off the Detroit Lions, who are only a game off the Packers’ lead pace in the North and already have an early-season victory over their longtime rivals. The teams meet in the regular-season finale Dec. 28 at Lambeau.

“Monday night, I think that will help make sure guys are focused,” receiver Jordy Nelson said of the next game on the schedule. “We know what we have in front of us. We have a four-game stretch here. Detroit is right behind us. We can’t let up at all, and we need to make sure we take care of business.”

Just as they did in November, a month that yielded a 4-0 record for the Packers and earned Rodgers NFC Offensive Player of the Month honors.

Rodgers insisted the collective mindset is back to playing — and winning — after coach Mike McCarthy excused the players through Wednesday following their hard-fought win over the Patriots. Looking past the supposedly inferior Falcons isn’t an option.

“They’ve had some close defeats this year. They’ve had some injuries at times,” said Rodgers, who will make his 100th regular-season start Monday. “So, you know when they put it all together, that’s a very talented football team. We’re going to be expecting their best shot. They’re fighting for a playoff spot, so are we. We’d like to get to 10 wins before we can start talking about the ‘P’ word (playoffs). We’ll hopefully get that done this week.”