I enjoy sports games that play more like wargames. Time and decision making invested in moving players around a field and performing the actions associated with the game (be that NFL or soccer or whatever else).
What I dislike:
I don't enjoy games where I spend my time staring at charts or spreadsheets, comparing stats and concluding that it was a gain of three yards. Calling the play is fun, but I feel disconnected to the play when I'm not taking an active part in how it unfolds.
Favourites that I've tried so far:
Technobowl with the fanmade rules variant is a wonderful arcade implementation of football and I used to be a Bloodbowl player (but that feels a little too far removed from the actual sport). What should I try next? It would be nice to have something that does this element well, whilst also playing out with a little more accuracy in simulation.