Here is Daniel Popper's day after column in The Athletic. Popper intersperses his text with game film, and does an excellent job!
<<Warning - Damion Square is unfiltered, raw and emotional in this interview - I'll edit as best as I can>>
2. Bosa is one of the best defensive players in the league
I wrote about Joey Bosa in last week’s Rewind after he dominated with two sacks against the Titans. And usually I try to mix up the topics to highlight different players and trends. But it’s impossible to tell the story of Sunday’s win without discussing Bosa, who was the best player on the field for either team and continues to stake his claim as one of the best defensive players in all of football.
The question heading into this season was whether Bosa could stay healthy and cement himself among the edge-rushing elite. He’s answered that as boldly and unequivocally as you could expect. With two more sacks on Sunday, Bosa now has seven in eight games this season. His 12 tackles for loss are tied for second in the NFL, trailing only Aaron Donald.
And this isn’t just a recent trend. Many will point to Bosa’s five sacks in the last four games and conclude he’s flipped a switch. That simply isn’t that case. Bosa has been this good all season long, both while defending the run and rushing the passer. He didn’t record a sack in the loss to the Lions but could have easily walked away from that game with multiple sacks.
The reality is that Bosa — and the Chargers’ defense in general — had more opportunities to rush the passer over the past two weeks. Tennessee quarterback Ryan Tannehill averaged 2.94 seconds from snap to throw in Week 7. That was the second-longest average time to throw against the Chargers this season. Only Houston’s DeShaun Watson held onto the ball for longer on average. Tannehill also dropped back 32 times. Only Watson (40) and Mitchell Tribusky (41) dropped back more times against the Chargers this season. Trubisky also averaged 2.66 seconds from snap to throw, which was longer than Pittsburgh’s Devlin Hodges, Miami’s Josh Rosen, Detroit’s Matthew Stafford and Indianapolis’ Jacoby Brissett averaged against the Bolts.
So there are your numbers. Now let’s get to the real reason you’re here, which is to watch Bosa go to work.
Melvin Ingram returned from his hamstring Sunday after missing three straight weeks, and his presence led to more one-on-one matchups for Bosa on the edge. The first of Bosa’s two sacks came when he and Ingram were rushing from the same side, with Ingram attacking from the interior from a standing position.
Ingram rushed from the right interior opposite Bosa on Bosa’s second sack, which came on a crucial third-down play late in the fourth quarter with the Bears close to field-goal range while trailing by one. But Bosa again had a one-on-one matchup on the edge with right tackle Bobby Massie.
This was the story of the afternoon. Late in the second-quarter, Bosa was one-on-one again with Massie and fooled him with an inside spin move, flushing Trubisky out of the pocket. Desmond King was there to clean up.
Then on Trubisky’s fumble in the fourth quarter that set up the Chargers’ go-ahead touchdown on a pass to Austin Ekeler in the flat, Bosa bull-rushed left tackle Charles Leno Jr. and drove him into Trubisky, who tried to escape but dropped the football amid the commotion.
That play didn’t show up on the stat sheet for Bosa, as the sack fumble was credited to Damion Square, who also played an outstanding game at nose tackle. But Bosa was the primary catalyst.
Bosa said after the game he “expected a little more chipping” on the edge from the Bears running backs and tight ends.
“We were ready for it,” Bosa said, referring to the Chargers’ defensive game plan. “But I’ll take one-on-ones.”
Bosa was also tremendously disciplined against the run and the screen game. He showcased that on back-to-back plays in the first quarter.
First, the Bears tried to freeze Bosa with a zone read play. But he stayed home and dropped Trubisky for a loss. This was one of Bosa’s four tackles for loss in the game.
On the next play, Bosa recovered from his spot at right end to swallow up a screen pass to the left to David Montgomery.
Here’s another disciplined run-stuff in the second quarter, when Bosa set the edge and prevented Montgomery from cutting back.
Square summed up Bosa’s dominance the best of anyone in the locker room.
Before you read this quote, it’s worth noting that Square is 30 years old and in his seventh year in the league. In college at Alabama, he played with Marcell Dareus, Dont’a Hightower, Courtney Upshaw and C.J Mosley. In his rookie year with the Eagles, he played with Trent Cole and Fletcher Cox. In Kansas City, he played with Justin Houston, Tamba Hali and Eric Berry. He’s spent the past five seasons playing alongside Ingram with the Chargers.
“I’ve played with a lot of great football players,” Square said. “I don’t know how long I’ll continue to play this game. But I’m for sure that Joey Bosa will be one of the best guys I’ve played with. And there’s no doubt about it.”
There’s more.
“He’s just really good, man,” Square added. “He’s a man that goes about his work a certain way every day. I try to walk in the building and emulate what he does. He’s a man that’s serious about his craft. I truly believe when he came to this team, just watching him go after it every day, it changed the way that I go after my work. He’s just a professional dude. Unstoppable. You know what I mean? He’s always going to be there. Either you’re going to triple-team him, or he’s going to get to the ****ing quarterback. That’s just what it is.”
Bosa’s brother Nick also had an outstanding game on Sunday, recording three sacks and an interception in the 49ers’ win over the Panthers.
More from Square: “I think that’s the same with his brother. It just goes to show, whatever the hell they got in their blood, that shit is really, really, really, really gold. And not only that, it’s one thing to have it, but it’s another thing to use it the way that he uses it, and gives it to his team on every play. It’s second to none.”
“He’s going to win,” Square added of Joey. “Depending on what happens in the secondary, they get four seconds, 3.5 seconds, he’s getting the quarterback, bro. I don’t care who the **** is blocking him. Yeah.”
Square laughed. “That’s really it,” he said.
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