Cardinals Grind Out 16-3 Victory : NFC: Phoenix runs the ball 46 times for 243 yards against injury-riddled Eagles.

Once again, an opponent ran all over the Philadelphia Eagles.

But this time it was the woeful Phoenix Cardinals, who were starting second-stringers at quarterback and tailback yet still managed 243 yards on the ground with a clock-consuming, ball-control offense as they beat the injury-riddled Eagles, 16-3, Sunday.

It was Philadelphia’s fourth consecutive loss after a 4-0 start. And it looked an awful lot like the Eagles’ loss last week, when Dallas rushed for 271 yards in a 13-point victory.

“What we did is we just kept hammering them with a couple of running plays, and they weren’t stopping them consistently enough,” said Chris Chandler, who started for injured Steve Beuerlein and put the Cardinals ahead, 13-3, with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Gary Clark in the second quarter.

“It’s old-school football--make ‘em stop it before you stop it,” Chandler said.

He said the scheme, which included more passes to running back Larry Centers than anyone else, developed naturally from Philadelphia’s tendency to double up on wide receivers. Center had four of the Cardinals’ 10 receptions.

Phoenix (3-6) opened a 16-3 halftime lead by scoring on its first four possessions, then used rookie Ron Moore and Centers to eat up the clock.

Moore, who started the season playing backup to Garrison Hearst, gained 160 yards in 36 carries. The 36 carries ties the club record. Centers, who had carried just once in eight previous games, had 59 yards in six carries.