DENVER Denver Broncos fans packed Empower Field Friday night for the team's preseason home opener against the Green Bay Packers, soaking in the last stretch of summer while counting down the days to regular-season football.Whil e the game does not count in the standings, fans say the energy outside the stadium was just as electric as any other game day."Finally back!" said Dennis Buelow excitedly. "Bo [Nix] is hopefully healed, getting ready for the preseason."For many, the preseason opener carries a special kind of excitement."Other than the actual first game, which I think is the most exciting," Scott Hood, Ambassador of popular tailgating group Bronco Gang, said. "I've been to opening baseball games, and they always say those are the best. Opening day for football is amazing."Luis Mendez has been part of Broncos Country for decades and still remembers what drew him in."I started in '77, and I couldn't believe it when I got here; it was orange, orange and blue, and everybody was GO Broncos," Mendez described.For fans, the tailgate experience is as much a part of game day as anything that happens on the field."Tailgating, that is where it starts. It's out here in the lots," said Missy Hamilton. "We make louder noise. We tailgate. We eat food. We camaraderie. Whether you're an away fan or home-growing or a transplant, as we call them, but yeah, no offense to anybody. But hey, come down, tailgate with us, drink food, eat, and then take that rowdiness inside."Those tailgate connections don't end when the season does."We became text friends. We're on Instagram together; it's a whole event," Buelow detailed. "It's a whole operation here at the tailgate."With temperatures still warm, fans made the most of the late-summer evening before fall football takes over."We're ready for fall for sure," Andrew Kannely said. "But you know we're out here trying to keep cool as best we can, and we are just enjoying our time and having fun in school today, kids. We're not there."As for predictions for the season ahead, optimism was running high throughout the parking lots."We're definitely going to the playoffs. I don't know what's going to happen after that, but we're definitely going to make it to the playoffs," proclaimed Levi Brown."I think 13-4, which is a little less than last year, but I think the wins are going to be more dominant," predicted Hood."My prediction is we're going all the way," Mendez said. ...read more read less