The late 2010s were a fun time to watch the Chargers pass rush.
Every time Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram were healthy and on the field together, it was a good time. So good, in fact, that the duo was just named as one of Pro Football Focus’ top pass-rushing duo of their platform’s history.
Now, even as someone who could admit he may be remembering those years as better as they were, I would not have been shocked to see them not make it. However, apparently my mind isn’t all that scrambled.
“Prior to numerous
injuries, Bosa was regularly one of the most dominant edge defenders in the NFL, which only makes it fitting for him and Ingram to make this list,“ says PFF analyst Bradley Locker. ‘‘In 2017, each was in the top seven in PFF pass-rush grade and the top eight for pass-rush win rate for any eligible defensive lineman. By pass-rush grade alone, the Chargers featured two of the four best edge rushers in the league that season.”
“Bosa netted 75 pressures and 13 sacks, while Ingram posted 76 pressures and 11 sacks himself. While their collective work didn’t help Los Angeles reach the playoffs that year, it lives on as one of the premier teammate pass-rushing seasons in recent memory.”
In five years as teammates, Bosa and Ingram combined to record 61.5 sacks, buoyed mainly by the aforementioned 23 total sacks between the two in 2017. Two other times, the duo combined for 18+ sacks with 18.5 during both the 2016 and 2019 campaigns.
That 61.5 sacks total between them during a five-year stretch may seem low to you, and it is, due to a goose egg Ingram laid in 2020 and the numerous injuries him and Bosa had that cost the pair 32 total games.
But hey, we’ll always have that 2017 season, right?
