Usually if you throw the ball early the receiver will be cutting to the middle, and if you hold onto the ball the receiver cuts outside or runs downfield. Defending has been changed the most from previous Madden's. Long gone are the days where you could rush the quarterback and tip the ball at will. In this years edition it is best to patrol the line of scrimmage with a line backer, to cover the run, and then dropping back into coverage if its pass. Interceptions are made by cutting in front of the receiver and jumping for the ball.
Defensive players have some disadvantages though.
They take longer to cut back than offensive players, and lack a speed burst. The latter is evened out, because the lack of brake away speed. Once you catch the offensive player you have the choice of two tackling styles, the more effective dive, or the hard hit, which is vulnerable to missing. While the gameplay has been fine tune for great playing against a human opponent, against the computer, like in previous Maddens, your in for a cake walk. The cpu as usual is vurneable to a few plays you can run over and over.