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No - we're not deviating from anything. Simply calling the rules as written, which DO allow R to stop or start the clock if an illegal activity helped the offending team regarding conserving or consuming time.
The reason it doesn't matter in the middle of the game is that while you are correct that it still consumes the same amount of extra time, neither team benefits from such consumption at that time (or at least - the team that might eventually benefit from that is not known).
By your logic, EVERY team that's trying to waste time down the stretch should "accidentally" have a false start (or 2, if R doesn't catch on) with around 1:30 - 2:00 to go in the game or half.
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