Packers vs. Vikings: 'We need this win, they need this win'

GREEN BAY – It would be difficult to find a mid-November game that means more than this one for the Packers.

It's the rematch of the Week 1 loss to Minnesota. It's Green Bay's chance to climb out of the cellar in the ultra-competitive NFC North. It's the opportunity to send a message the Packers plan to be in this division race for the long haul.

All-Pro safety Xavier McKinney admitted he started thinking about the magnitude of Sunday's noon showdown at Lambeau Field not long after leaving Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts with the Packers at 6-3, but still the only team in the NFC North with three losses.

"With where we're at right now, being last in the division, losing to them the first…