Never Understood why

Yeah, this has always kinda been the deal with Madden and the older NCAA games. You’ll usually notice the gameplay feels smoother and faster when you're playing offline or in non-ranked matches. Those modes just seem to have more animations and overall polish. But once you hop into ranked or College Football Playoff (CFP) mode, it’s a different story—the game feels a bit tougher, not quite as smooth, and some of the animations don’t show up the same way. It can be frustrating at first, but honestly, just keep playing and practicing. The more you stick with it, the more comfortable it’ll feel—and you’ll definitely get better over time.

I have noticed this, and I have a suspicion that it has to do with the play modes. As I understand it, there is arcade, simulation, and competitive. I have always like competitive and haven't liked simulation or arcade. I noticed that Ultimate team is usually simulation, and I don't like it as much, it feels like they are slower, etc. What you described has me wondering if they are making Online H2H more simulation.