GREEN BAY – Xavier McKinney and the Packers need no reminder of what's at stake this Thursday night at Ford Field.
Not only is this a rematch with Detroit after a 24-14 loss to the Lions last month but it's also a pivotal showdown in the ultra-competitive NFC North, which is on pace to shatter its most wins in a season since the 2002 NFL division realignment.
Since Week 9, Detroit (11-1), Minnesota (10-2) and Green Bay (9-3) have gone a combined 11-0 to establish themselves as three of the NFC's premier teams. NFC East-leading Philadelphia (10-2) was the only other team in the conference to eclipse nine wins through the first 13 weeks.
McKinney, the Packers' marquee free agent signing at safety this offseason, has had this game against Detroit in the back of his mind since the loss at Lambeau.
The defeat was disappointing, but McKinney entered Green Bay's Week 10 bye believing in his team.
"I had texted the guys as soon as we got on the bye week and I was like, 'Look, when we come back, let's win all of these games,'" McKinney said. "Mentally, that's where we're at and that's what we're trying to get accomplished. But we know we've got to take it one step at a time, one day at a time, and we're going to work to accomplish that goal."
The Packers haven't gotten much help in their pursuit of the division leaders, though. Of the six combined losses among the Lions, Vikings and Packers, three have come against each other.
Minnesota and Detroit both topped Green Bay at Lambeau Field while the Lions edged the Vikings 31-29 in a Week 7 clash at U.S. Bank Stadium.
While the Bears have tailed off since their 4-2 start, the NFC North is still set to demolish its previous high win total since the realignment. The old black-and-blue division won 36 games in 2011, though that figure was buoyed by the Packers winning a franchise-record 15 regular-season games.
With 34 combined wins, the 2024 North is already tied for the third-most wins in a season by the division since the NFL's 2002 divisional realignment. In addition to the 36 games it won in 2011, the NFC North won 35 combined games in 2023, 2014 and 2007.
By far, this year's division has the highest winning percentage (.708) of any NFC North season since realignment (.563 in 2011). That competition has Lions coach Dan Campbell excited for Thursday night's matchup.
"I think once you hit December, it's hard not to start to begin to look up a little bit and I mean that in a good way," said Campbell at his Monday news conference.
"You can start to smell the playoffs a little bit. You can start to see what's out in front of you, what's at stake. You know you're well within the race, and I think it just gives you a little bit of, I don't know man, excitement."
With five games left to play, nothing has been determined in the NFC North other than Chicago (4-8) has been knocked out of division title contention. If the Packers, Lions and Vikings hold pace, though, it would mark the first time in 23 years Green Bay's division has sent more than two teams to the playoffs.
That came during the final year of the NFC Central in 2001 when Green Bay and Tampa Bay advanced as wild card teams while Chicago received a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed.
The playoffs are not what the Packers have in mind at the moment, though. November was about keeping pace with the Lions, which they did with wins over Chicago, San Francisco and Miami.
It just so happened the Lions and Vikings also didn't blink, with both teams surviving close calls to build their respective winning streaks. It's the first time both Minnesota and Detroit have had double-digit wins in the same season since 1970.
"It's just a tribute to the toughness of the North," tight end Tucker Kraft said. "Teams in the North, we're just playing tough football. We're trying to win our division, get that first-round bye."
The Packers also are in good standing after going undefeated against the AFC (5-0), which included a sweep of the AFC South, and they're currently 3-0 against the NFC West. Their 9-3 mark would be good for a three-game lead in the NFC South and two-game lead in the West.
All that matters, however, is where they stand in the North and a win on Thursday night would pull both Green Bay and Minnesota within a game of Detroit for the lead in the NFL's most competitive division.
"The NFC North opponents are always huge games," receiver Christian Watson said. "Every game is a huge game at this point in the season for us. It'll definitely be huge for us to even it out between us and give us a chance to finish off the season the way we want to."
The Packers have a well-established track record of strong finishes under Head Coach Matt LaFleur, who brings a 18-2 record in the month of December into Thursday's game.
The Lions feel they have plenty of momentum, too, after claiming back-to-back seasons of double-digit wins for the first time in the team's 94-year history.
"This is why you're in this business," Campbell said. "The race is on and it's just good, man. This is top-tier stuff and it's for the best of the best and this thing's going to go down to the wire."
