"I thought he played outstanding," the 39-year-old Favre said. "These were tough conditions, and if you play like that, it's hard to beat. He was the better man tonight."

Not everything went Cutler's way in his first trip to Giants Stadium. He threw his 13th interception (he is second in the NFL in that department to, you guessed it, Favre), as Dwight Lowery made his first career pick with a leaping grab in the back of the end zone in the third quarter.

But Cutler's 36-yard strike to Brandon Stokley, who badly beat the Jets' Abram Elam, gave the Broncos a 34-17 lead with 9:26 left in the game and sent soaked Jets fans heading for the exits. Cutler already had thrown a 59-yard touchdown pass to Eddie Royal that put the Broncos ahead for good at 14-7.

Both Favre and Cutler attempted 43 passes. Cutler completed 27; Favre had 23 completions for 247 yards. Favre, who threw a second-quarter interception, also was held without a touchdown pass for the first time since Week 9 in Buffalo.

Cutler picked his spots when to go deep. Tight ends Tony Scheffler (seven receptions for 90 yards) and Daniel Graham (six catches for 59 yards) were Denver's leading receivers. Only when the Jets' secondary made mistakes did Cutler choose to air it out.

"It wasn't just a function of the short passes," Jets coach Eric Mangini said. "It was a function of giving up the deep passes. They did a nice job of mixing in screens or bubble passes to the tight ends to slow down some of the pressure that we had."

Cutler also did a fine job escaping pressure as the Jets, who entered the game with 35 sacks, couldn't bring him to the ground.

It also didn't hurt to have rookie Peyton Hillis in the backfield to soften the defense. The Jets have been lauded this season for their stout rush defense, which had allowed only 78 yards per game. But the seventh-round draft pick out of Arkansas gashed them for a career-high 129 yards on 22 carries.

Denver coach Mike Shanahan said the success in the running game was a function of the Jets' inability to stop Cutler, who battled through the elements to earn his 16th career win.

"Brett's obviously one of the best, and I've been a fan of his for a long time," Cutler said. "I've had some success in the past with inclement weather. I feel comfortable back there. I'm sure Brett's the same way."

Favre is used to poor weather (he did play 16 years in Green Bay, after all), but apparently the temperature wasn't quite low enough for him yesterday.

"I'd rather play in snow," he said. "There are numerous plays where I thought I could have made a more accurate pass had it not been raining. But it's Football."