They still end up with about an 80 on metacritic, green rating. When you read the reviews, you can tell how the highest ones are by people who read the EA press release and who don't play sports games by habit.
I'd say the reviews have been weaker the last couple of years, but still inflated. The trend of the general reviewers tends to lag what hard core gamers think about the game by a couple of years, in my view.
With that in mind, after last year's uninspiring versions of the game, reviews might be weak this year even if the game is really better.
This is why I will pay much more attention to these boards than any published reviews, and wait to decide about buying until about September 10th or so.