SAN DIEGO (AP) Jake Plummer and David Boston got Arizona off to a fast start. The Cardinals' reserves made sure it didn't go for naught.

Plummer and Chris Griesen threw touchdown passes Saturday night as the Cardinals opened the preseason by beating penalty-prone San Diego 24-17 in Marty Schottenheimer's debut as coach of the Chargers.

Plummer threw a 66-yard scoring pass to Boston, who beat Ryan McNeil by at least five yards, on the game's second play.

Griesen's 41-yard pass to Bryan Gilmore midway through the third quarter gave Arizona a 21-17 lead, and Tim Duncan's 26-yard field goal with 6:20 remaining completed the scoring.

"It's a nice way to start," Plummer said. "We wanted to go deep and give David a chance to catch the ball, and it worked out perfectly. It felt good. It's what we wanted to do for the first preseason game. We just have to keep building on it."

Plummer, who took every snap at quarterback for the Cardinals last season, completed 5 of 7 passes for 101 yards while playing the first two series. Griesen was 6-of-11 for 74 yards.

Boston, who had 98 catches for an NFL-leading 1,598 yards last year, had three receptions for 88 yards in the opening period.

"Last year we started out kind of slow," Boston said. "We started out fast this year to show what we're about. We're trying to establish a new identity here."

The Cardinals, 7-9 last season, will be playing in the NFC West for the first time this season.

"We have speed on this football team, and we are going to take shots down the field," Cardinals coach Dave McGinnis said. "It was important for us to win this game."

The Chargers were penalized 13 times for 75 yards, drawing Schottenheimer's ire.

"We gave up 100 yards on two passes, we gave up 11 fouls before the ball was snapped," Schottenheimer said. "That's unacceptable. We're looking at 55 yards of field position. That's very disappointing to me and we're going to fix it."

Doug Flutie, competing with Drew Brees for the Chargers' starting job, completed 6 of 9 passes for 46 yards while playing two series.

Brees was 8-of-13 for 60 yards while playing most of the second quarter, and Dave Dickenson was 12-of-20 for 154 yards and a touchdown.

Dickenson's pass into the end zone from the Arizona 35-yard line on the game's final play was intercepted by Don Morgan.

Flutie and Brees both seemed satisfied with their performances.

"I made the right reads. I went to the right place with the ball," Flutie said. "I didn't let anything get away, so it went pretty well."

Brees' second pass, on the second play of the second quarter, was intercepted by David Barrett after deflecting off Joey Goodspeed's hands and returned 38 yards for a touchdown, putting Arizona ahead 14-0.

"I guess it was OK," Brees said of his effort. "We had the one scoring drive, which was nice. Whenever something bad happens, the best thing you can do is put some points on the board."

Brees engineered a 57-yard drive capped by Goodspeed's 1-yard run late in the second quarter before being replaced by Dickenson, who guided the Chargers into position for a 41-yard field goal by Wade Richey, making it 14-10 at halftime.

Dickenson threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Patrick Batteaux to finish a 68-yard drive after the second-half kickoff and give the Chargers a 17-14 lead.

They were on top only 4½ minutes before the Griesen-to-Gilmore pass.

The Chargers moved to Arizona's 34-yard line on their first possession before rookie Reche Caldwell dropped Flutie's on-target pass on fourth-and-4.

Plummer then guided the Cardinals to the San Diego 20 before Duncan missed a 38-yard field goal.

Five San Diego starters - running back LaDainian Tomlinson, linebacker Junior Seau, tight end Stephen Alexander, defensive tackle Jamal Williams, and free safety Rogers Beckett - didn't play because of injuries.

The Cardinals played without kicker Bill Gramatica and three starters - wide receiver Frank Sanders, center Mike Gruttadauria and defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch.

Both teams are without unsigned first-round draft selections - defensive tackle Wendell Bryant, taken 12th overall by the Cardinals, and cornerback Quentin Jammer, chosen fifth by the Chargers.

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