Thigpen finished because he couldn’t finish

Chiefs GM Scott Pioli traded for 26-year-old quarterback Matt Cassel on Saturday, effectively handing last year’s starter, Tyler Thigpen, a clipboard and the league-approved ballcap of his choice.

Cassel’s ability to lead an offense lacking Pro Bowl linemen and receivers is unknown. But merely by taking the field and not trying to prove he’s ambidextrous, Cassel stands a good chance of bettering Thigpen, who became more flustered the longer games went on.

The lads at Football Outsiders published a fascinating item last week quantifying Thigpen’s starts and finishes. Using a statistic called defense-adjusted value over average (DVOA), Football Outsiders determined that Thigpen became less effective with each passing quarter — kind of like Rage Against the Machine’s career.