Of course it makes a difference, but solely from that you cannot seriously draw the conclusion that VY would have won by more points. Cutler was making all types of throws that VY would struggle with. Lots of VY's completions were simply throwing it to the flat. And those 2 INTs were pretty bad, especially the 2nd one. And Cutler's arm strength is superior to VY's. Dont forget that the Titans have been a much better team than the Broncos most of the year. VY had a decent game, his legs count for a lot, but he needs to work a lot on his accuracy.
Compared to the hype the top 10 this draft got, it has turned out to be a joke so far. Not sure how you can argue with that. VY had some things go his way last year, some good defensive plays, a 60 yard field goal, and he made some things happen with his legs & he made the pro bowl due to all of these things going his way. I'm guessing that is the part you think is ridiculous, only becuase you are a VY lover not because you have good football analysis. NFL defenses have exposed VY this year, contained his running for the most part and made him throw. Check out his stats, no pro bowl this year nor playoffs.
He didn't look exposed at all on Monday night. He kept his team in the game with his arms and legs, basically 90% of the whole offense, despite his defense and special teams playing horribly. He has struggled some passing both his rookie and soph years. That is par for the course for franchise QB prospects taken early in drafts and placed on bad offenses early in their rook year (Elway, S Young, McNabb, Aikman, Palmer)--VY's play is hardly buyers remorse. Playoffs, 50/50, 60/40. Yes no pro bowl, just like any other QB taken in the last 3 years. It was remarkable he made a pro bowl so early, that is hardly a standard for justifying draft status when Brady, Manning, Palmer, Rothlessberger roam your conference, not to mention with up and comers like Anderson in an offense loaded with a great Oline and great receiving weapons also there. One player consistently got to throw in favorable situations and had receivers who made plays for him. One player was throwing from behind. I want to see Cutler make plays when opponents know he has to throw before saying I am equally impressed with him. Don't get me wrong, Cutler has look good, but he has a lot more weapons and was in much more favorable situation--Denver and Shannahan have made lots of QBs look great and with great stats (Griese, Plummer) because of the run threat and offensive schemes only for these QBs limitations to be shown once someone makes them have to make plays when the defense is expecting pass.
VY's thrown two and a half times as many interceptions this year as he has touchdowns... I'm not really sure why you're trying to defend his passing game.
Cutler has a lot more weapons than Young? Name em. I'd have to disagree. 1. Running game? Yardage-wise, the Titans have the #4 rushing attack in the NFL. Broncos are #12. Rushing TD wise, the Titans have 11 rushing TDs. The Broncos have 5. The Broncos have been playing Selvin Young the past 3 weeks. Lendale White was averaging 100 yards a game until two weeks ago. ADVANTAGE TITANS. 2. WRs? Both teams have mediocre/poor WRs. Javon Walker has been out for most of the season for the Broncos, so the weight has fallen on Brandon Marshall with 750 yards and 3 TDs. He's big and fast, but 3 TDs in 10 games dont make put him in stud WR status. The Titans have a bunch of flavor of the week WRs that in general pretty much suck. Jones, Williams, Gage...yuk. I guess the advantage is with the Broncos but not by a huge margin. ADVANTAGE BRONCOS. 3. The line? Both teams have great lines. EVEN. 4. Coaching? Fisher has a taken a team with cruddy O and great D and made them wild card contenders. Shanahan can take a street RB and make him a 1000 yd rusher (except maybe this year). EVEN. 5. Defense. Not even a contest. The Titans D is the only reason they have a winning record. Considering how effective the Titans D has been - with Albert Haynesworth in the lineup - Vince has had more opportunities to score than Cutler....who's rushing D has been something like an sieve this season. Vince however has not done anything with the ball until recently. ADVANTAGE TITANS. My sig says it all.
Somehow I don't think you would be giving Cutler the same excuses if the roles were reversed. In fact, if Cutler was the one playing from behind, Cutler would STILL put up better stats because he would be throwing more. And then you would make the excuse that VY didnt get a chance to throw (like when he threw for 42 yards when playing from ahead earlier this year). When the Titans are ahead, you excuse Vince by saying they dont have to throw. When the Titans are behind, you excuse Vince by saying his opponents know he has to throw. In what scenario will VY throw well? He was throwing from ahead a lot earlier this year, when the Titans were 6-2. And it's funny you mentioned rushing. The Titans were tearing it up on the ground earlier this year. Bottom is VY didn't play bad, and if he can improve accuracy he can be pretty good. But Cutler has clearly been better this year...so far.
I have never said his passing game doesn't need a ton of work, or that his passing game is ahead of Cutler at this point. I was talking about over the past 2 years. And Cutler was had Walker, Rod Smith and/or Marshall for a lot of games. The Titans havn't had anyone near their caliber. Not sure the Titans have WRs that would start for any other team. Heck Eric Moulds starts and they just took a flyer on Mike Williams. As for defense, the Titans were a bad defensive team last year. One of the worst statistically. They have been very good this year, but not the last 2 weeks. Denver has been a very good defense for
