TEMPE, Ariz. -- Marvin Harrison Jr. had a feeling Sunday would play out the way it did.
During Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh's time at Michigan, Harrison, then at Ohio State, rarely saw single coverage against the Wolverines. Harrison figured, if they still had the same kind of respect for him in the NFL, then the defensive play against him would be similar.
He was right.
Harrison saw single coverage on about seven of 32 snaps and finished with just one catch on three targets for 33 yards. But it was an impressive over-the-shoulder catch, and the Cardinals won 26-14.
"Then we did throw the go-ball and completed that one," Harrison said. "So, it was just like you're not going to get many of the opportunities, but when you do, obviously we capitalized on the one we had, but it's a part of the game.
"Everybody's going to have their weeks, have their days, and, at the end of the day, the team won and all you can do is your part."
Quarterback Jacoby Brissett isn't worried.
"I don't want to get into the whole overreaction of Week 1 because he had one catch or something like that," Brissett said. "It's a long season. He did a lot of things. He got a lot of attention in the game. I think that speaks more to him. People may say, 'Oh, he didn't have a lot of catches,' but it's a reason why he's double-covered, and he's got a safety over top of him and playing him so heavy at the line of scrimmage because they understand the one time that they don't, you see what happens.
"I think obviously it's finding different ways to give him the ball, but if he's attracting that amount of attention, I think Marv understands, 'Hey, I've got to help my brothers out and my teammate out and get them open.' I thought he did a good job with that."
Harrison understands who's next on the schedule.
He hasn't beat the Seattle Seahawks in any of his four previous meetings against them and while Arizona's nine-game losing streak against Seattle, as an organization, hasn't been a major topic in meetings and around the locker room, it certainly has been a point of emphasis, Harrison said. And he's not the only one who's craving a win over the defending Super Bowl champions.
Tight end Trey McBride is 0-8 against them and wide receiver Michael Wilson is 0-6.
"It's, like, we need to win here soon," Harrison said. "Sooner or later, for sure."
How Seattle will defend Harrison will largely be dictated on McBride, who scorched the Seahawks for nine catches for 137 yards and a touchdown in their second meeting last season. If Seattle commits enough resources to McBride, Harrison could find himself in more single coverage situations than he did in Los Angeles. Of 33 routes, according to ESPN Research, Harrison was single covered on roughly seven of them. Most of the time, the Chargers kept a safety high on his side or shaded a safety toward him.
Seattle didn't give up more than 51 receiving yards to any single Patriots receiver in Week 1 but pressed more, by a percentage, than the Chargers pressed the Cardinals. That could bode well for Harrison, whom Brissett considers a threat anytime only one defender is on him.
"It's part of it," Harrison. "It's going to be different each week."
