Fact Check: Are the Packers Getting Investigated by the NFL and the Feds for Match Fixing After Losing to the Browns?

The Green Bay Packers made a massive coup just before the 2025 season started, landing top-five pass rusher Micah Parsons in a trade with the Dallas Cowboys. After winning their first two games handily, the Packers bandwagon started to look like a Mumbai train. Overcrowded.

Starting left tackle Rasheed Walker even suggested they could go “undefeated” after just two wins, and nobody batted an eye. Talk about premature.

Green Bay crashed back down to earth during an ugly 13-10 upset loss to the previously winless Cleveland Browns, who’d lost the previous week 41-17. Not a great look. Green Bay was a large -7.5 favorite on the point spread, and no doubt sportsbooks across the country had a whole lot to lose if the Packers did win or cover the spread.

Claim: That loss sparked wild rumors online. One NFL news account on Twitter with 29.4k followers, NFC North News, “reported” that the league and “federal investigators” were looking into the potential that the sportsbooks combined with the Packers to fix this game and ensure they didn’t have to pay out on any Packers bets.

“BREAKING: The NFL is cooperating with Federal Investigators over potential match fixing by the #Packers. This play in particular is what is raising red flags. A total of 1.1 BILLION was on Packers Moneyline, a record amount for the NFL. Yikes,” the report read.

Verdict: There was surely a lot of money on the Packers. If you are a sports bettor or have any friends who are sports bettors, odds are you got “pummelled” this weekend or heard about it. And the Packers were the main culprits every time.

The play in the tweet above was a critical third-down moment, right before the end of the third quarter. Instead of letting the clock run out (it was at one second when the ball was snapped) and using that extra time to set up the right play, Packers QB Jordan Love snapped the ball, rolled to his right, and was crushed by a Browns defender. The sack pushed them back 11 yards

While the play was ill-advised, it’s hardly enough to warrant this type of investigation. Apart from this obscure NFC North News Twitter page, there have been no reports from any reputable sources that the NFL or federal authorities are looking anywhere near this game for match-fixing or point-shaving.

Regardless, fans on Twitter came up with a few hilarious reasons why this type of upset might have happened. “The browns are so bad that when they win, it causes an investigation,” quipped one. “I looked into this and it turns out that actually Jordan Love just sucks lol,” joked another.

“Where are those same investigators for all of the Chiefs games the past 3 seasons?” pointed out a third, referring to the many theories about the Kansas City Chiefs being pushed to success by the NFL.

“It should be illegal to put the ‘BREAKING:’ tag before anything made up by dumb fan sites,” said a fourth, whom we happen to vehemently agree with.

The real reason the Packers lost? The Browns’ elite defense frustrated them all day long. A timely interception by the secondary late in the fourth quarter set Cleveland on their way to a comeback. Green Bay’s inability to stop rookie Quinshon Judkins in that final frame—he had 62 of his 91 yards and his TD in the fourth quarter—turned out to be a fatal flaw as well.

The “1.1 billion dollars bet on the Packers” figure is likely a fake number as well. Green Bay was a big -7.5 favorite, but that’s not even the biggest spread this year: the Ravens were -11.5 favorites against Cleveland the week before, and they covered that and then some.