SAN DIEGO -- As NFL coaches like to say, the NFL is a week-to-week league.

But through two games, San Diego Chargers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt likes the way his group is purring along.

One of the strengths of this year’s offense has been fast starts. San Diego, on its first four drives in the first two games, scored on six of those eight chances. The Chargers have trailed for just a little over a quarter through two games.

Those fast starts have opened up the playbook and allowed the Whisenhunt to dictate tempo. San Diego is second in the NFL in points scored (32.5 per game), third in rushing (152.5 yards per game) and No. 11 in total offense (372.5 yards per game).

But perhaps even more important, the Chargers have six passing plays of 20-plus yards. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers says the improved running game has helped open up big plays down the field for the passing game.

“Over the years, when we’ve ran it really well, you get chunk plays,” Rivers said. “When you can’t really run it very well and they can play Cover 2 shell zone, you can’t get those. They don’t care if you’re showing run. They’re going to say, ‘Go get your 2 (yards).’ And they don’t care.

“But when you’re getting four, getting six, getting 13, they go, ‘We better get somebody down in there to stop the run,’ and that’s when we have a chance to show it to Melvin (Gordon), and with the speed we have outside, you’ve got Travis (Benjamin), Tyrell (Williams) and those guys running all over the place.”

Whisenhunt said the key for his offense is remaining consistent with the way the team practices each week.

“It’s easy the first week,” Whisenhunt said. “Everybody’s fired up. But after you come out of a tough loss, can you do that again? So that was our focus last week, can we do that as a group? And they did it.

“So now, yeah, we did have success as a group and win a game. But it doesn’t mean anything. You have to get back into that routine as a group and have that same effort with how you are finishing plays. I think you have to block out all of that other stuff and make sure you stay focused on that.”

Let’s get to a couple questions from our weekly mailbag:

@eric_d_williams when will we see hunter Henry more involved in the offense?

— larry (@1904kid) September 24, 2016

@eric_d_williams: With Antonio Gates doubtful for Sunday’s game, that could very well happen this week.

Henry’s been targeted just one time in two games. That target turned into a 20-yard reception and was an explosive play in the first game of the year against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Other than that play, Henry’s opportunities have been nonexistent.

But that could change against the Indianapolis Colts. While he hasn't been getting the ball, Henry has earned his keep as a run blocker, getting action in about 30 plays per contest through two games.

“Everybody was looking for him to catch a lot of passes, and that hasn’t been the case for him the last two weeks,” Rivers said. “He had that big catch against Kansas City that I hoped was going to kind of spark us and end their run. But I think what has stood out is how good of a blocker he is. He’s a guy that’s going to be a complete tight end for us and that can really do everything.

“I made the comment to him that your catches are coming, because they will. We know that things will come in spurts and at different times. But he’s really off to a good start.”

Henry getting it done as a run blocker should keep defenses honest and help him get on the field more. The Chargers have used two-tight end sets on 35 plays through two games, which is No. 10 in the NFL.

“When we’re in two tight ends and he and Gates are in there or he and (Sean) McGrath are in there, we’re very multiple,” Rivers said. “It’s not just a run personnel group and a pass personnel group. We can do everything from that, and that certainly eliminates some tendencies."

@eric_d_williams how much will Dexter McCluster cut into Melvin Gordon's breakout season?

— Mahmoud Dynasty (@MahmoudDynasty) September 24, 2016

@eric_d_williams: The attraction for the Chargers signing Dexter McCluster with Danny Woodhead out for the year was the Ole Miss product’s ability to get up to speed quickly.

McCluster is familiar with Whisenhunt’s offense from his time with the Tennessee Titans, so he is expected to play on Sunday.

However, that does not mean McCluster is a direct replacement for Danny Woodhead. More likely the Chargers will use Gordon in a similar manner to last week, when he rushed for a career-high 102 yards on 24 carries.

But Whisenhunt has a different issues on his hands -- avoiding playing Gordon too much in a season where they need the Wisconsin product to be fresh for a 16-game season.

“Melvin’s doing really well,” Whisenhunt said. “You can see his confidence growing. He’s doing a lot of good things. But we’ve got to be realistic. When you run the way Melvin’s running, you want to get him as many carries as you can, but you can’t give him too many.

“He’s running very physical, he’s getting after guys and finishing runs. You’ve got to spell him. You’ve got to be able to rotate other players in there to keep him fresh.

“So it feels good that we’ve got a guy (in McCluster) that’s been in the league and that can do some things for us, especially coming out of the backfield in the pass game, so we can try to create something close to the mismatches that we tried to create with Danny. We’ll see how it goes.”