The Chargers did half well in Jim Harbaugh’s debut as coach, relying on their defense to hold the Las Vegas Raiders in check for one half while their offense warmed up for a much better second half on Sunday. Here’s what we learned, what we heard, and what happens next:

DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE

There’s no doubt that the Chargers’ defense was far, far, far ahead of their offense during training camp and in three exhibition games featuring mostly reserves. That appeared to be the case again during a 22-10 victory in the season opener Sunday at SoFi Stadium.

In baseball terminology, pitchers were ahead of hitters at the beginning of the season. In football terminology, it’s a long season, but not that long. In other words, there’s not much time for the offense to catch up and show the same kind of success and efficiency as the defense.

“It was a great performance, an inspired performance,” coach Jim Harbaugh said of the play of the Chargers defense, which limited the Raiders to 71 yards rushing on 22 carries, an average of 3.2 yards per attempt. “I thought it was really great. The whole team was inspired by the defensive play.”

The Raiders were 5 for 14 on third-down efficiency (35.7%) and 0 for 1 on fourth-down efficiency. They gained 296 total yards, averaging a modest 5 yards per play. They fumbled twice and Gardner Minshew II threw one interception, a tipped pass that Poona Ford intercepted late in the game.

Las Vegas’ lone touchdown came on a 31-yard pass from Minshew to Alexander Mattison in the final minute of the first quarter, giving the Raiders a 7-3 lead.

SECOND HALF INCREASE

If you throw the first half film in the trash, you’ll see that the Chargers were actually quite efficient on offense. They had nine of their 11 first downs in the second half, three extended scoring drives of 60 yards or more, and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Additionally, the Chargers didn’t lose a single fumble or throw a single interception.

In total, they gained 316 yards, 176 of which were on the ground. JK Dobbins rushed for 135 yards and one touchdown on just 10 carries. He scored what proved to be the game-winning touchdown on a 12-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter, giving the Chargers a 16-7 lead with 14:55 remaining.

Did the Chargers simply wear out the Raiders on a day when it was 97 degrees at kickoff? Was the Chargers’ patience rewarded during a game in which they made only subtle adjustments to their offense in the second half, including playing without a huddle?

Both things could be true.

“It was hot, it was a hot day,” Chargers center Bradley Bozeman said. “You can definitely tell when you wear a team down. I think we definitely started to wear them down, that’s for sure. When you have that kind of heat, you can wear a defense down, especially if you’re running the ball consistently.

“So I think we’ve exhausted them.”

On the Chargers’ second-half adjustments, quarterback Justin Herbert said, “Just being patient. You know, just knowing that we have our skills, we have the right guys on the field. We had to adjust. A couple too many penalties in the first half, but I thought once they adjusted, got the ball moving, it was a lot better. Just going out there, playing with confidence, playing fast, that’s what we’ve got to do.”

The Chargers offense was penalized five times in the first half, including four for false starts. After cleaning that up in the second half, Herbert was able to lead the Chargers to a field goal and two touchdowns in a physical, no-nonsense victory over an AFC West rival.

“There’s no excuse for the penalties we got early,” Harbaugh said. “We’re going to work on that. From Week 1 to Week 2, I think that’s where you can make the most progress in the entire season in a one-week period. So we’re really focused, laser-focused on getting better this week.”

WHAT COMES NOW?

The Chargers (1-0) traveled to play the Carolina Panthers (0-1) on Sunday in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers suffered a disaster in their season opener, a 47-10 loss to the Saints in New Orleans, a game in which Brice Young’s first pass of the season was intercepted.