Cardinal Rule Hard Lesson for 49ers : NFC: Phoenix, which plays best against the better teams, upsets San Francisco, 24-14. Young leaves early because of flu.

The Phoenix Cardinals know how to beat the best, but not the rest.

The Cardinals, who upset the Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins for their only other victory of the season, got three touchdowns passes Sunday from Chris Chandler to hand the San Francisco 49ers their second defeat of the season, 24-14.

“We didn’t play aggressive football, and their defense played good,” said San Francisco’s Jerry Rice, who had five of his six receptions in the fourth quarter. “Everyone learned today. We have to go back and regroup.”

The 49ers (6-2) cut into a 17-0 Phoenix lead when Mike Sherrard stole the ball from Phoenix linebacker Eric Hill, who had just recovered a fumble by tight end Brent Jones, and ran 39 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.

But the Cardinals (2-6), who broke a three-game losing streak, scored again before the quarter ended and held on for the victory.

“Even after they got the cheap one, we came back and held them to give our offense another chance,” strong safety Tim McDonald said.

Phoenix was revitalized by the return of running back Johnny Johnson and a defense that turned stingy against the NFL’s top offense.

Johnson, recovered from a chest injury, had 102 yards in 26 carries, the first time in 29 games that a Phoenix back has gone over 100. His running was integral to the Cardinals’ domination of the first half, when they ate up most of the first quarter with a 15-play drive that ended in a missed 29-yard field-goal attempt, and time-consuming drives of 15 and 10 plays in the second quarter.

The Cardinals held the 49ers to 298 yards and one touchdown.

“The first series set the tone for the whole day,” said McDonald, referring to San Francisco’s opening possession, when the 49ers drove 79 yards to the Phoenix one-yard line in eight plays.

Then outside linebacker Ken Harvey stripped the ball from Steve Young, and McDonald recovered on the 20.

“Phoenix made a great play on our first drive. The linebackers did a heck of a job,” said 49er Coach George Seifert, whose team came in leading the NFC with a plus-5 edge in turnovers but lost the ball twice more than the Cardinals.

Young, the league’s top-rated passer, did not stay around long after that, leaving the game with flu in the second quarter and being replaced by Steve Bono.

“Most quarterbacks hold the ball in one hand,” Harvey said. “I just grabbed it, knocked it away.”

In the fourth quarter, Harvey sacked Bono to end the 49ers’ last chance to keep a five-game winning streak alive.

Chandler completed 19 of 33 passes for 197 yards. He connected with Randal Hill on scoring passes of four and 23 yards, and Greg Davis added a 33-yard field goal to make it 17-0 with 10:20 left in the third quarter.

“The running game definitely set up the passing game,” Chandler said. “If you’re facing third and long all day, it’s an uphill battle.”

After San Francisco cut the lead to 10 points, Chandler connected with Ricky Proehl for a 22-yard touchdown pass that stretched the lead to 24-7.

The 49ers scored in the final quarter on a four-yard run by Ricky Watters. Bono completed passes of 13 and 14 yards to Sherrard, then completed pass plays of 25 and 19 yards to Rice, moving San Francisco to the Phoenix 25 with 2:12 remaining.

Then the Phoenix defense stopped Rice for no gain on a reverse. Harvey sacked Bono for a six-yard loss on the next play, and on fourth down, Bono threw an incomplete pass.

Hill has caught at least one pass in all 23 games with the Cardinals, and Proehl had a reception in his 31st consecutive game.

The victory helped the Cardinals tie their all-time series against the 49ers at nine games apiece.