want to pay offline but don;t know how.

i'm not sure if this is the right board, but i want to play full seasons with my team, but all i can find on most modes is Game Pass, and i want to play for free. I found out on the Facebook and Reddit boards that i can play without paying for Game Pass and i just have to set my XBox for offline. I tried that but i can;t play the game at all because i need to be online. I'm stumped. how do i do this? i have had the game since Friday and i haven;t had a chance to play because of this issue. Please help.