I am mentioning this as a bug, although I'm quite sure it's intentional and by design.
I have been watching this for a good dozen seasons now and, in my opinion, it is ruining the game. The 'looping sideline pass logic' is far worse of an exploit than the punt block ever was.
So, to break it down, the little looping pass to the RB to the outside "vignette" works almost regardless of defender experience. Four different things can generally happen:
1. The defender, when in M2M (usually a LB), chases the back to the outside and hesitates just enough to let the back run around him. Doesn't matter if he has 97 speed, or if the back 'only' has 89 sp. Depending on the exact defense this usually gets a big gain of like 40+ yds, and sometimes scores.
2. There is a DB well-positioned to the outside of the RB who should make the play 99% of the time. Instead, he stands still on the field and 'pivots', watching the back as he runs by. Exasperated watching my best CB, who's seen this play literally hundreds of times, do this. Ditto above result.
3. Three DBs in the area 'sniff out' the play and all start running toward the RB. "Tragicomically", they all overrun the play (even though they are three of your best players with 21 years of starting experience between them) like some kind of 'Keystone Cops' skit. This generally results in 6.
4. Up to three defenders cover the looper 'like glue' but he still catches it anyway, usually for 8-12 yards only, but in a situation where it should be successful maybe 1% of the time.
There's nothing that is remotely realistic or sensible about any of this. Not only does it totally imbalance the game and not simulate anything like reality (how stupid are these players supposed to be, falling for the same trick hundreds of times?), but some teams use this exploit exclusively.
I have toned down my team's use of this exploit, but, in experimenting with this on and off this season, when I allow my team to run these plays we win by 60-70 points, and when I eliminate or minimize their usage we are just an average team and often lose.
I am sure some people love this kind of thing as a sure fire way to win virtually every game, but I feel it's a ridiculously unrealistic exploit that has been allowed to exist in the game for far too long and has ruined any enjoyment I ever got out of it.
