See I mostly play online and can't get into the offline at all. So my opinion is the complete opposite of yours.
Offline the AI is brilliant, the game's a challenge, but Career mode is shockingly disjointed and I just have no desire to play it other than to level up my VP to play online with my mates.
When we do that, the game is so shockingly flawed that we end up not wanting to play anymore.
And I'm not surprised at all by this online pass thing, last year they offered you the chance to pay for boosts for your VP, and don't get me started on Ultimate Team.