Attention to detail in Madden is very obvious. On replays, you can actually see fingertip catches and a slight wobble in the travel of the ball on a pass. In bad weather, you see the raindrops hitting the field and the players sloshing in muddy water as they run. Well, if that's the case, then this game is right up your alley. Human error is part of Madden as well.
Good receivers drop passes and good tacklers miss tackles.
Whereas in older games, the Pete Stoyanovich could tackle Mike Alstott, that is very unlikely in Madden. The sound adds greatly to the game as well. In fact, you can hear shoulder pads crunching and the quarterback yelping the snap count. Be careful of just how real this game is, though, because the other team is usually very smart in its play calling, meaning if you are blitzing, they are usually going to pass to a wide-open tight end. In addition to that, a certain team's strengths are usually employed.