CARSON, Calif. -- Philip Rivers was in control and directing traffic, and the offense hummed for the Los Angeles Chargers during large stretches of the second half.

After struggling to move the football early against the Miami Dolphins, the Chargers finally turned to the no-huddle offense in the second half.

“I felt like we needed to change the tempo,” Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said about going no-huddle. “I’ve done it before against that team. I played in that division [AFC East] for a long time. That’s a good way to get those guys tired and to slow down the pass rush.”

With several playmakers at his disposal and one of the more talented running backs in the NFL in Melvin Gordon, Rivers and the Chargers have not been able to get on track offensively, averaging just 19 points through two games, including Sunday's 19-17 loss to Miami.

The Chargers have not run the ball consistently, averaging just 3 yards per carry. And they’ve struggled to get into the end zone.

But the thing that has worked consistently so far this season is when the Chargers have gone no-huddle, which they’ve done predominantly in the second half.

“I just think that’s kind of our offense,” Gordon said. “It’s fast-paced like that -- moving fast and catching the defense off guard. That’s just kind of how we work.”

If the Chargers are most effective going up-tempo and Rivers is most comfortable running the offense at the line of scrimmage, then perhaps the Chargers should start the game with the no-huddle instead of waiting until the second half when they’ve been stagnant the first part of the game.

The Chargers have not scored in the opening quarter through two games and have had trouble getting off to fast starts, putting even more emphasis on a slim margin for error on what happens at the end of games.

“We moved the ball well,” Rivers said. “The name of the game was scoring, and we didn’t score enough points.

“We talk about it all the time and it sounds silly, but yeah, score more points than the other team and we haven’t done that. We moved the ball well, we didn’t turn it over. We’ve just got to finish some of those drives with touchdowns.”