I absolutely would rather play chess with an opponent that beat me using chess strategy and if I couldn't catch up or read the board/possible outcomes of my moves as well. Well - I deserve to lose. That's part of chess strategy.
I would certainly rather the AI "keep it close" by good playcalling and execution without cheating.
If EA is worried about the "average" Madden gamer, well that's what difficulty levels are for. I remember playing CoH and when I was modding the AI, I saw functions that were used only if the AI was on Hard or Expert difficulty. People aren't WW2 generals either, but that doesn't mean they want a WW2 game that just cheats and doesn't at least appear to use real life tactics and have weapons match up against units in a relatively realistic way. (No rifles blowing up tanks for the sake of "creating a challenging AI" or for the sake of "concern for the average gamer")
EA could do the same thing. Using Hardcore play call would have the AI use the whole playbook and all of its football strategy. Advanced would use some, but not all, and Beginner would just be base defense and vanilla offense.
Those of us who DO want to have a great "chess match" in the game shouldn't lose out any more than those who want to just to have "fun, high scoring games with their favorite team" shouldn't lose out either. Not in this era of gaming and with things that have options.
Well, I can't speak for everyone, but I'd rather be shut down, assuming the team had the personnel to shut my offense down, by an AI that can read my tendencies, understand the personnel I have, and the situation of the game, and truly adjust to them than to see a bunch of ridiculously unrealistic plays like what you described.
That's just frustrating and not even a semblance of realism.