Due to Locker's injury of his non-throwing shoulder, Matt Hasselbeck has played in the last 4 games for the Titans, including the last 3 starts. Now that the Titans have won 2 games in a row, narrowly, there is some discussion on Hasselbeck being the better QB for the Titans than Jake Locker.

That is hogwash. Here is my case for Jake Locker starting over Matt Hasselbeck (when healthy):

Passer rating: Jake Locker 90.2 vs Matt Hasselbeck 78.4

TD-to-INT ratio: Jake Locker 4-to-2 vs Matt Hasselbeck 5-to-4

YPA: Jake Locker 7.37 vs Matt Hasselbeck 5.97

Completion percentage: Jake Locker 63.2 vs Matt Hasselbeck 61.5

Sacks: Jake Locker 3 vs Matt Hasselbeck 10

Rushing Yards: Jake Locker 67 vs Matt Hasselbeck 6

Football Outsiders' DVOA: Jake Locker -6.6% vs Matt Hasselbeck -15.8%

QBR: Jake Locker 68.5 vs Matt Hasselbeck 43.5

As you can see from the list above, in every category, Jake Locker has outperformed Matt Hasselbeck. Now, Jake Locker has faced slightly worse passing defenses. He has faced New England (27th in defensive passer rating), San Diego (25th), and Detroit (20th). Hasselbeck has faced Houston (6th), Minnesota (15th), Pittsburgh (19th), and Buffalo (24th). But FO's DVOA calculation takes this into account and Jake Locker is still outperforming Matt Hasselbeck. And, Locker has done this when the running game was the worst in the league while Hasselbeck has had the benefit of having a much improved running game now that CJ actually sees the holes now (and the benefit of defenses dropping 2 sure interceptions).

Yes, we have won 2 close games recently against a 3-3 Pittsburgh Steelers and a 3-4 Buffalo Bills team. But, let's not even pretend that Matt Hasselbeck has played anywhere near the level that Jake Locker has.

It's good to have a good backup QB who can lead the team during tough times. But this is Jake Locker's team. His play has earned it and Hasselbeck's play only shows that he is a good backup QB, nothing more.