3 things we learned from the Packers' preseason loss in Denver (2024)

In the aftermath of the Green Bay Packers’ 27-2 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday night at Empower Field at Mile High, there is one thing we learned for certain:

If the Packers lose all of their starters on both sides of the ball this season, they are going to have a hard time winning a game.

Yes, that sentence was written in the sarcasm font.

But even with a whopping 31 players sitting out — including more than 20 of them as healthy scratches who could have played — there were a few things we found out about where the Packers stand as the preseason winds down.

Here are three of them:

Sean Clifford shows areas of improvement

Clifford, who as a rookie fifth-round pick backed up Jordan Love last season, has had his ups-and-downs during training-camp practices this summer. But he played well last week against the Cleveland Browns, and he had some good moments against the Broncos, too.

But while longtime quarterbacks coach Tom Clements complimented Clifford by comparing him to former No. 2 quarterback Matt Flynn — Aaron Rodgers’ primary backup for most of the first half of the four-time NFL MVP’s time in Green Bay — last week, Clifford cannot continue to make you-should-know-better mistakes.

Against the Browns, he failed to throw the ball away on a scramble and took a 0-yard sack, a mistake that coach Matt LaFleur specifically mentioned afterward.

Clifford made that same mistake again on Sunday night, only this time it resulted in an avoidable 11-yard sack when he could’ve thrown the ball out of bounds.

But his much more bothersome mistake came just before halftime, when he misfired on a downfield throw to tight end Joel Wilson and it was intercepted by Broncos defensive back Keidron Smith, who returned it 56 yards to the Green Bay 14-yard line. That set up a Broncos touchdown three plays later.

That was Clifford’s final pass of the night, as rookie seventh-round pick Michael Pratt took over thereafter. Clifford finished the night 6 of 10 for 43 yards with no touchdowns and the interception (30.4 passer rating).

LaFleur was critical of the INT in his halftime TV interview, bemoaning the fact that it came against a “premier” look, meaning the Packers got the defensive look they were hoping for with the play-call.

“We throw a pick against a premier look,” an annoyed LaFleur said. “We’ve got to do a better job.”

Ty’Ron Hopper making his case

It’s not Cooper’s fault that his hip injury has kept him out for two weeks and caused him to miss both preseason games so far.

But Hopper, who didn’t play against the Browns because of an ankle injury himself, played extensively in Denver and made the most of his heavy workload.

In the first three quarters, the Broncos ran 43 offensive plays, and while official snap counts aren’t available until a day after the game, Hopper might’ve been on the field for all of them.

He had a team-leading 11 tackles in the first three quarters, including bone-crunching hits on Broncos running backs Jaleel McLaughlin and Samaje Perine to snuff out run plays.

Hopper also had the green-dot helmet, meaning he was the on-field defensive play-caller after veteran Eric Wilson departed. Hopper stayed in the game for the fourth quarter, too.

“Whatever the coaches want, whatever the coaches want,” Hopper said during the week when asked about how much he expected to play. “If they want me out there all four quarters, then I'll be out there all four quarters.”

Packers kicking competition still an unknown

The Packers entered the fourth quarter trailing 20-2 with their points coming on a Zach Morton sack of Broncos quarterback Zach Wilson in the end zone.

That meant kickers Anders Carlson, Greg Joseph and Alex Hale had one combined opportunity to set foot on the field — when Carlson booted a touchback on the opening kickoff of the second half.

The Packers finally got into scoring position early in the fourth quarter, and when the drive stalled, LaFleur opted to kick a 47-yard field goal on fourth-and-5 from the Broncos’ 29-yard line … and Joseph missed the kick wide right.

So far in camp in practice, Joseph is 53 for 64 (82.3%) this summer while Carlson is 51 of 63.