GREEN BAY – As the wins stacked up for the Green Bay Packers this year, whether it be during the four-game winning streak from late September into October, the five-game winning streak from November to December, or the recent two-game stretch to end the regular season, a member of the media would invariably invoke the 2010 or '11 seasons to the veterans on the team that participated.

Nearly all would shrug such comparisons off.

"Each team has it’s own identity," said fifth-year safety Morgan Burnett. "This year’s team, we have our own identity, ’94 Alpha,’ so that’s the only thing we can focus on. That’s all that really matters, so you can’t get too high with the high or too low with the low. You’ve got to keep an even-keel mentality and take it one game at a time."

"94 Alpha" was the designation head coach Mike McCarthy gave this squad as the 94th team in franchise history, but there has been an important carryover from 2010 – the fact that an important part of the roster participated in that Super Bowl-winning campaign.

It created a certain attitude in the locker room, that the small things that happen during a season don’t really matter if the big goal isn’t accomplished.

"Yeah. No doubt about it," said second-year linebacker Sam Barrington. "Game balls and stuff like that, that’s not what gets you to the Super Bowl or gets you to where yow ant to be. It’s consistency. So guys like myself, Ha Ha (Clinton-Dix), Micah (Hyde), Eddie (Lacy), Davante (Adams), David Bakhtiari to Josh Boyd, Datone Jones, that’s the stuff we’re chasing.

"We've got to be consistent to get to where we want to go. We’ll make the most out of the small moments of success that we have, but we’re chasing something bigger. And when you’re chasing something bigger like that, the best friend to that chase is consistency. That’s what it takes."

And with well-respected veterans like Burnett, Aaron Rodgers, A.J. Hawk, Tramon Williams, Jarrett Bush and Clay Matthews setting the tone, the young players had no real choice but to fall in line.

"The vets have been in that situation before, so we rally behind the vets," said second-year running back and kick returner DuJuan Harris. "Once the vets get all the young guys aboard, it’s a better outcome for us."

When the year began, much was made of how home grown and young this roster was, and an expectation was set early by those key veterans.

"Everybody is bringing the young guys (along), like this is what we’re about, this is how we’re going to go about doing it – you’re on board. If you’re not, we’re going to tell the coaches you gotta go," third-year safety Sean Richardson said. "So everybody jumped on board and we’re just running with it."

Like every year, injuries occur and in-season moves are made, but as the Packers prepare to take on the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, not much has changed since the first week of the season in that regard.

The average age of the 53-man roster is just 25.9 years old, but the the overwhelming majority – 33 players – have participated in at least one playoff game.

And, including injured defensive tackle B.J. Raji, 21 players were a part of the 2010 Super Bowl championship team. Julius Peppers is the 22nd player who has Super Bowl experience, having gone with Carolina in 2003.

Just eight players are 30 or older, with Peppers being the oldest at 34.

That home-grown culture has also contributed to the business-like attitude of the younger players.

"I just feel Green Bay does a great job of finding good guys," rookie linebacker Jayrone Elliott said. "They don’t want the guys in the media doing dumb stuff. It’s just a part of who we are and how we far we’ve come. I know guys who’s very humble and you don’t want to be that one guy who sticks out. I just try to be humble and be thankful for everything. I try to see how guys like ‘A-Rod’ carries himself with the media, Peppers, Matthews. You want to be like them."

Elliott, sitting in his locker inside Lambeau Field, looked around.

"We’re in the NFL. It’s cool to be in the NFL," he continued. "But at the end of the day, you want to be better than them, or you want to be just as good as them, so you need to follow at least some footsteps they’ve taken."

Richardson agreed.

"Well, see, it goes to show you how great the people upstairs are," he said. "The scouts and Ted and all these guys because I think we have the right amount of balance with youth and veterans. We have people, the right leaders that have been through the battle, that know what it takes to win a championship, know what it takes to keep grinding and stay focused, and we’ve got just enough young guys that it’s not a big distraction. Everybody is jumping on board."

As the Packers prepare for the Cowboys, they will rely on rookies like Clinton-Dix, Adams, Corey Linsley and Richard Rodgers to make big plays. Second-year players like Barrington, Bakhtiari, Hyde and Lacy are starters.

And nearly every other young player on the roster will be counted on, in some fashion, to contribute to the biggest goal.

"I feel like, ever since the summertime, we kind of knew how good of a bunch we were gonna have, so our goal from the start of the season was ‘Super Bowl,’" rookie cornerback Demetri Goodson said. "This is just what we do. It’s kind of like — we’re happy, but at the same time this is just a stepping stone of where we’re trying to be at, the Super Bowl on Feb. 1."