Well said. It's a business and they are trying to maximize their profits. The whole "letting them play" or "calling it tight" is code for " we want to present a good product for entertainment purposes". Lopsided games serve no purpose, so the league must present the facade of "there's always a chance" to their fans.I think it is more likely than not that the NFL intentionally steers games. Acceptance of this (along with other declines in the quality of the product) has led to me seeing less entertainment value in the NFL and reducing my consumption. If it were verified that they steer it would not impact my consumption further.
I think fake is too strong of a word. I don't think that the games or seasons are scripted.
I don't think they are out to get this team or that team. I think they are out to maximize profit. Sometimes that means improving a team's (or player's) chances of winning. Sometimes it means trying to keep a team in a game longer.
As for the OP's question.....
Back in the early 90's my brother and law and I went to Madison Square Garden to see WWF wrestling. Needless to say we were big wrestling fans and we were so pumped to see the WWF stars in person. To tell us that wrestling was fake would have been to court death. We were wrestling fans from the days of Bruno Sammartino to Bob Backlund. We had great seats at ring level so we could see all of the action up close. As always the evening started with a couple of "payday" matches to whet the fans appetite. During one of these matches, one of the wrestlers jumped in the air to perform a drop kick and missed by a country mile. His opponent dropped to the canvas like he had been struck by a baseball bat. Everyone in our section had the same reaction: "WTF?! He missed.........?!" We enjoyed the rest of the evening as rabid wrestling fans should. But make no mistake, I never viewed wrestling the same after that fateful night. My interest slowly waned as I simply could not take wrestling serious anymore. The stakes were fake, the outcomes pre-determined.
Wrestling is dead to me now.