The Packers will open the preseason in Cleveland. The date and time of the game have yet to be determined but it will be played on a date between Aug. 11-15. It'll be Green Bay's first preseason trip to Cleveland since 2003. The Browns won, 27-24, at Lambeau Field in last year's preseason.
Arizona will help the Packers open Lambeau Field for the 2011 season, when the Cardinals visit Green Bay in game two of the preseason, to be played on a date between Aug. 18-22. It's expected this game will be a "Gold" ticket package game.
This will also be the Cardinals' first preseason visit to Lambeau Field since 1978, when the team was based in St. Louis. The game is designated as the 62nd annual "Upper Midwest Shrine Game," a tradition that began in 1950 and has raised more than $3.1 million for the Midwest Shrine's burn centers and hospitals for crippled children. The Packers have won nine of the last 12 games in the Shrine series.
Kansas City will close the preseason at Lambeau Field on either Sept. 1 or 2. It'll mark the second straight year the teams have met in the preseason finale. The Packers last hosted the Chiefs in a preseason contest in Green Bay in 1992. The Chiefs beat the Packers, 17-13, at Arrowhead Stadium in the 2010 preseason.
The Kansas City game also marks the 51st annual "Bishop's Charities Game," a charitable contest initiated in 1961 by Vince Lombardi and the Diocese of Green Bay that has raised more than $3.4 million to date.
The one game for which the date and time are set is a rematch of the Packers-Colts clash, won by the Packers, 59-24, that was nationally televised last summer. It will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Friday, Aug. 26, at 7 p.m., and it will be nationally televised by CBS. The third game of the preseason usually sees starters play the longest of the preseason and the game most closely resembles a regular-season game. Further distinguishing the Packers-Colts preseason game is the matchup of quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning.
Over the past 19 preseasons, the Packers have appeared on national TV at least once in 18 of those years. Green Bay's other three preseason games will be shown on the statewide Packers Television Network.
