I retired 5 years ago but if my memory serves me correctly the scenario is actually a combination of 2 drills.
1 The depressurization; what caused it and can it be controlled? Closing the outflow valve manually and checking that the packs and bleeds are on. If it can be controlled there is no reason to carry out an emergency descent with all the attendant risks involved.
2 The emergency descent is only carried out if the rate of increase in cabin altitude cannot be brought under control and of course a high speed descent would imply that there was no structural damage.
I am intrigued as to the reason for the deployment of the oxygen masks at 14,000ft; was it a rapid depressurisation due to structural damage or a malfunctioning outflow valve and how much time was there between the cabin alt warning and the mask deployment, or is there some other reason? After all MOL appeared on the Today programme some 8 hrs after the incident confident that the proceedures had been followed to the letter.