Eagles Have Enough for Cardinals : NFC: Philadelphia shows no signs of missing departed free-agent stars in 23-17 victory.

The Philadelphia Eagles were supposed to be on the decline and the Phoenix Cardinals on the way up.

Not yet.

Despite the loss of such stars as Reggie White, Keith Byars, Ron Heller and Mike Golic to free agency, the Eagles got 242 total yards and two touchdowns from Randall Cunningham in Sunday’s 23-17 victory over the Cardinals.

For at least one game, the Eagles made good on Coach Rich Kotite’s boast that despite mass defections his team would be as good or better than last season’s playoff team.

“I don’t think the word is vindication,” said Kotite, who was given a two-year contract extension before the game. “I think we made some good decisions with the people we brought in. They were solid acquisitions to this team. The more they play together, the better they will be.”

With so many new players around him, Cunningham completed 18 of 29 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown and added 50 yards rushing, including a nine-yard scoring run.

The Cardinals couldn’t get much going against the Eagles. New quarterback Steve Beuerlein completed seven of 19 passes for 93 yards. Chris Chandler also played and completed eight of 20 passes for 96 yards. Running back Garrison Hearst, who signed last week after a five-week holdout, carried seven times for three yards.

Not the way Cardinal Coach Joe Bugel wanted to start a season in which owner Bill Bidwill says the team must win nine games or he’ll clean house.

“We were well prepared, but when you drop 10 passes that’s a no-no,” Bugel said. “The big guys didn’t make the plays when they had to. And people who don’t think the Eagles have a good football team have a few screws loose. They may have a better team than last season.”

The Eagles drove 87 yards in 11 plays to take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, with Heath Sherman diving over from the one. Cunningham completed five passes during the drive.

Philadelphia took a 14-0 lead after linebacker William Thomas intercepted a pass by Beuerlein and returned it 18 yards to the Phoenix nine. On first down, Cunningham scored on a bootleg with 9:30 remaining in the half.