3:41 PM -- It turns out Joey Bosa was correct in his defeat at the hands of Jaws ... but he was much closer than he predicted -- finishing seventh place with 152 pistachios in 8 minutes, while Joey Chestnut finished tied for fifth with 167.

James Webb was the big winner on the day ... downing a whopping 338 nuts!!

NFL star Joey Bosa is a quarterback's nightmare on the football field, but he admits he's no match for Joey Chestnut ... telling TMZ Sports he's predicting to take an L from the professional eater in Monday's pistachio contest.

The Los Angeles Chargers defensive weapon will be participating in the second annual Wonderful Pistachios Get Crackin' Eating Championship on the Santa Monica Pier ... where he will have eight minutes to out-eat opponents for the title and a $10k prize.

Bosa -- who recorded 6.5 sacks in nine games this past season -- jokes he may have a future in eating nuts for a living ... saying, "Forget football. This is my calling right here. Pistachios."

He has some tough competition, though ... including Nick Wehry, James Webb, Bartley Weaver, Darrien Thomas ... and, of course, Chestnut, who Bosa feels is unbeatable when it comes to eating contests.

The dude is setting the bar pretty low for himself ... telling us he just wants to make it out alive.

"I don't really care where I place," the 28-year-old says. "My main goal is to not choke and die on a pistachio in front of a bunch of people."

"If I could accomplish that, then it's a win in my book."

But the pistachio contest isn't the start of something new for Bosa -- he says we won't be seeing him at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest anytime soon.

"I'll stick with the healthy snacks."