Yes, absolutely attributes should matter a lot in sim mode, more so than any other mode with everything the player does.
ultimately target passing is just another way to do something in the game, and if ratings/attributes are supposed to affect how an NFL player does something in the game, then it should also include target passing.
For instance, consider if there was a "Target Juking" control, would anybody really want Lagarette Blount to start making cuts and jukes like Dion Lewis, just because the user used the 'Target Juking' mechanic? No. If the user tries to do a fancy juke with Blount, it's likely not to work, and likewise, if the user uses Target Passing with Christian Hackenberg, the QB shouldn't be throwing pinpoint accurate throws.
In sim mode, I don't think that you need visual cues for this... You just need the outcome of the play. Like, if you use the L2/LT + juke stick, you don't see any visual cue, indicator, or highlight that Lagarrette Blount is going to make an ineffective juke. He just does it. In sim mode, the balance between user input and ratings skews closer to ratings, compared relatively to Arcade or Competitive (where user input matters most). The user's input should be the same, the reticule speed shouldn't change, but the result of the play should just be off more often than it is on, when throwing with a bad QB.
They're not any different. Just comes down to preference maybe, if you prefer the stick placement of the Xbox or the Playstation, or you prefer the tension of the triggers on one controller versus the other. The controllers are mostly identical these days for actual inputs, especially for a game like Madden (as opposed to a fighting game or something).