for me, after i pass the ball i hit A to select the receiver that the ball is going to, and then i press Y to catch it. it's hard but usually works unless i'm being covered well

It really does depend on the ratings of the players involved, but one thing that works for me is to start dominating with my running game and then to start using play action. Also, use you tight end every once in a while. You'd be surprised how open he gets sometimes when you ignore him the entire game.

i'm having the same problem. even when i use one of the best teams and the opponent is a crap team, their cornerbacks stick to my receivers like glue. i have like a 30% completion percentage because my receivers just never get any separation. against the good teams, i basically just run on ever play cuz i know i'm not gonna complete more than a handful of passes..... . it's also sometimes hard to see where the freaking ball is gonna go when you make the long passes, cuz the camera follows the ball and you don't even see the yellow dot until the last second . i have to rely on guesswork to see if my receiver will be in the right position.