Harmon Gets a Bit More Work in Diversified Charger Offense

It’s probably no coincidence the Chargers recorded their first victory when Ronnie Harmon had his most prominent day on offense. Call it a Harmonic convergence.

With the Raiders stuffing the Chargers’ big backs in the early going, the Chargers went to a more varied offense, using Harmon for draws and quick pass plays that opened things up in the Chargers’ 21-13 victory Sunday.

Harmon finished with 30 yards on five carries and 48 yards on three passes, including receptions of 16 and 25 yards in the scoring drive that gave the Chargers a 14-10 lead just before halftime.

“They (Raiders) were playing one-on-one most of the game and it was our plan the throw me the ball a little bit more if they stayed one-on-one,” Harmon said.

He said his role in the team’s first victory of the season “felt like a big game in high school, like a big game in college--I got excited, I got the ball a little bit.”

Harmon came into the game averaging 6.6 yards per carry. But with Rod Bernstine and Marion Butts doing most of the work, he only had handled the ball 33 times all season.

“Today I got the ball a little bit more, leave it at that,” Harmon said. “I never know day-to-day how much I’m gonna get the ball. It helps to put it up a little bit. We know we can run. We did what we had to do today.”

Harmon said it was satisfying that the victory came against the Raiders, and that for a change the other team broke first. “We (forced) a lot of turnovers and we didn’t give up the ball,” he said. “I don’t think we self-destructed this time. It could’ve went either way, and the breaks went our way today.”