Just another vapid sports platitude. Nobody ever claimed players or coaches are the most imaginative people.
Of course one play can decide a game. A team's performance can earn or derail them a lopsided score, but there are enough game-deciding FGs to make the sentiment absurd on its face.
And this business of refs "keeping games close" is a crock. They're there to maintain order, not increase TV ratings. Anything else is -- as we've just seen -- collusion.