Denver, Colorado. The home of Green Bay Packers horrors.
The shock and disgust of season-ending injuries to Micah Parsons and Zach Bako-Bewele. The helplessness and loss of control of Aaron Rodgers' career-low 77 passing yards.
Even the jump scare of a 27-2 embarrassment in their last preseason meeting two years ago.
Now comes the dread. The paranoia. The fear of the unknown. That's only to be expected as the Packers return to a venue where they've escaped victorious only once in 10 all-time attempts. Denver, Colorado, isn't just the home of a brutal win-loss record, but it's where all of the Packers' worst fears come to life.
Matt LaFleur is playing the role of the unsuspecting victim who refuses to escape while he still has time. He's strolling into Mile High seemingly unaware of the Packers' nightmarish history there. LaFleur plans to give Jordan Love two drives in Friday's preseason contest. The starters will be out there.
It's a roll of the dice that burned LaFleur and the Packers 12 months ago, and one that comes with heightened unease given the team's history in this stadium.
Matt LaFleur is taking another preseason Jordan Love gamble that's burned the Packers before
Stay healthy. Stay healthy. Stay healthy. That's objective number one for the Packers. It should be their only objective in this game.
LaFleur learned that the hard way a year ago. He spoke about the data. How playing starters in the preseason reduces the risk of injuries when the meaningful games begin. The only problem with that theory is that it requires exposing players to the risk of injury before the "real" football even begins.
That's what happened to Love last August. LaFleur gambled against the New York Jets, and Love suffered a thumb injury that required surgery and wiped out his participation in the remainder of the preseason.
It can happen in an instant, too. Lukas Van Ness only played three snaps in last week's opener, but that was three snaps too many, as he suffered a shoulder injury.
Staying healthy is the only victory Packers need to worry about in second preseason game
Stay healthy. That's all that matters for LaFleur and his team as they return to the Green Bay Graveyard, the home of countless Super Bowl dreams buried a mile high.
In 2015, the Packers arrived with a 6-0 record. They left battered and bruised, 29-10 losers in a nightmare that began a three-game losing run. Mike McCarthy's team went 4-6 the rest of the way.
They returned in 2025, a decade later, at 9-3-1 on the back of four straight victories. Then the Packers lost Parsons to a torn ACL, Bako-Bewele to a partially torn patellar tendon. Green Bay went 0-5 the rest of the way.
The Broncos' frightening 90 percent home win record against the Packers extends beyond multiple eras. Only Brett Favre has escaped with a miraculous overtime victory.
Thankfully, Denver, Colorado, can't hurt the Packers in the standings this time. Friday night, the scoreboard is irrelevant.
Love will play some. So will the rest of the starters. The upside is it'll give the Packers a good test against a Super Bowl contender – the Broncos intend to play Bo Nix and their starters, too. The game plans will be generic (although someone should probably tell Jonathan Gannon that after pulling out some A-gap blitzes last week), but it's still an opportunity for the Packers to shake off the rust and find rhythm with Minnesota looming in three weeks.
But this is Denver, Colorado. We should know better. Denver, Colorado, chews up green-and-gold optimism and spits out shattered Super Bowl dreams.
Just stay healthy. That's the only victory we need on Friday night.
Back to the House of Horrors, the Packers go.
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