The NFL has teams of analysts who can tell you them the best way to schedule games so the teams they want to win will be in the best position to win. They schedule byes and Thursday night games in a way that will better get them the result they want. A couple of road games cross country around a Thursday night game is hell on a team. Throw in some rule changes every year and a little help from the refs and you have scripted football it’s all about ratings. It’s not rigged but the teams the NFL wants to win are put in the best position to do so.