I had a Packers franchise and no matter what I did Brett Favre would retire following my first season, I wound up trading up for a guy in the draft who was amazing in everything but awareness (I had Rodgers but he didn't develop much after that first year and I didn't want to see such a drop off in awareness and everything else as well). The adjustment I had to make made the game more challenging and more engaging, I had to figure out where I was planning on going with the ball before the snap, and I had to make my decisions to go to the next guy much quicker than I ever had to with Favre. I loved being able to look off defenders by focusing on my #2 and then checking my preferred target out of the corner of my eyes and then making the quick switch to him and getting him either all alone or with a defender in the area but not close enough to make a play on the ball.
I don't think people knew about the quick switch (pushing one of the shoulder buttons and the receiver button would automatically switch your focus, as opposed to using the analog to guide it over there), either that or people really had no interest in being challenged in their games. The way I played Madden 2004 (Eagles/Falcons/Created team with running QB) vs. how I played Madden 06 was drastically different and the way I played 06 was much more realistic and it was mainly due to the QB Cone.
There is no way to look off defenders anymore unless you pump fake, which takes up more time in the pocket and relies mainly on getting players to jump rather than trying to get them to not commit to their routes. Also getting a safety to jump with a pump fake isn't as efficient as getting them to cheat over to the wrong side of the field, in one they have a chance to still be in the way of a deep pass (to a guy who ran by the CB covering him), in the other the safety would be completely out of position and could only hope to make a TD saving tackle.