When a team has enjoyed only one winning season in 20 years and it hasn't won a division title in 33 years, every game becomes a proving ground.

That's what the Cardinals have faced this year. Whether it was trying to win on the East Coast, or beating a good team at home, or winning in Seattle, or winning three straight for the first time in 2002, every game has presented challenges.

So far, they have passed most of the tests. The Cardinals are 7-3 and could clinch the NFC West title by beating the Giants this Sunday, which will be their biggest challenge of the season.

Most of the Cardinals weren't quite ready to turn their attention to the Giants in the moments after the victory over Seattle on Sunday.

After all, it was their first victory in Seattle...

Pro football in the desert is a laughingstock no more. The joke is on the rest of the NFC West. The Arizona Cardinals are on the brink of clinching a division title, something this franchise has not done in 33 years. And they could do it with five weeks to spare. "I know that people have said `Well, the division's down,"' coach Ken Whisenhunt said on Monday.

Darnell Dockett had heard enough from all those whose doubted the Arizona Cardinals, the former laughingstocks who haven't won a division since Gerald Ford was president. So after rookie Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie dived for his second interception of Matt Hasselbeck with 2 minutes left to clinch the Cardinals' 26-20 victory on Sunday, Dockett looked at the Seahawks' bench.

Not since the "Roaring 20s" has a Cardinals coach started off as well as Ken Whisenhunt. The former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator is 14-11 since coming to the desert. That's the best start since Norm Barry directed the Chicago Cardinals to a 16-7-2 record in his first 25 games as coach in the mid-1920s.

The NFL has always known how violence is inherent and celebrated in its sport -- from the once-famous "Jacked Up" segments on ESPN, to the still-famous "Hit Stick" on the "Madden NFL '09" video game and the dozens of "greatest hits" videos. More and more, however, the hard hits are being viewed by the league in a much different light.