San Diego Chargers Daily Links: Joey Bosa has been even better than we hoped

5 must-know PFF stats from NFL Week 7 - Jeff Dooley
3. Chargers rookie Joey Bosa has earned a pass-rush grade of 86.0 so far this season—second-highest among NFL edge defenders. That’s after playing just three games after his contract holdout and injuries delayed his NFL debut. Bosa has also recorded the highest pass-rush productivity score in the NFL among all defensive players with at least 50 pass-rushing snaps, notching 20 total QB pressures so far (four sacks, four hits, and 12 hurries).

Joey Bosa's dominance underscores mistake Chargers made in contract dispute - Sam Monson
Bosa’s pace may slow as the season wears on, but he has faced some tough players in his short career so far. In his debut he did much of his damage against Oakland’s Donald Penn, a good if not great left tackle. Against Atlanta this week he beat both left tackle Jake Matthews and right tackle Ryan Schraeder repeatedly — each is a quality starter. This isn’t a player whose numbers can be explained by a quirk of scheduling and matchups.

Top fantasy takeaways from Week 7's action - Jeff Ratcliffe
Here’s an example of why looking at the snap count doesn’t tell the whole story for tight ends. Henry actually outsnapped Gates 47-38, but Gates ran more pass routes. So what gives? The Chargers used Henry on 23 run plays. Gates was on the field for just nine snaps when San Diego ran the ball. Gates also didn’t stay in to block on any of his pass plays, whereas Henry blocked on four of his 24 passing snaps. The implication here is pretty simple: as impressive as Henry has been this season, San Diego still views Gates as their top receiving tight end.

Chargers led by their own Kobe Bryant -- QB Philip Rivers - Eric Williams
"When it comes down to crunch time, Philip is like Kobe," Mebane said. "He is clutch, man, so I’m rooting to give him the ball, and he is going to take care of us."

Joey Bosa Appears To Be Good As Hell - Tom Ley
Bosa made the third start of his career yesterday, and spent the game bullying the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive line and making Matt Ryan’s life hell. Bosa sacked Ryan twice during his team’s 33-30 overtime win, and he now has four sacks on the season. He’s shown himself to be the kind of edge rusher that can bully his blocker off the line:

Audibles at the Line: Week 7 - Andrew Potter
While we're critiquing coaches in that game, let's not let Mike McCoy off the hook for having Philip Rivers take a knee on the last offensive play to set up a 42-yard try. Since 2010, NFL kickers have missed more than 20 percent of field goals from 40 to 45 yards out. I don't know what the odds of San Diego moving backwards or turning the ball over there are, but I'm sure it's a lot less than 20 percent. Settling for a long field goal, let alone moving BACKWARDS at that critical range, is terrible risk analysis, even if Lambo did bail him out.