But soon after the game, the Cardinals talked about the need to handle prosperity, however meager, with some maturity.

They need only to look at their history to discover why. The club hasn't been 2-0 since 1991. That team won only two more games to finish 4-12.

It's early to call any game a "must win", but the Cardinals opening two contests come close. The 49ers beat them twice last year and kept the Cardinals, who finished 8-8, out of the playoffs. The Dolphins were awful last year, so the Cardinals should be able to win at home.

Getting off to a 2-0 start is important, because the Cardinals play on the road the next two weeks, against Washington and the Jets. After that the schedule gets much tougher, and it could be downright brutal in the second half of the season.

So the Cardinals need to beat the teams they should beat.

"We can't be satisfied with that," defensive end Darnell Dockett said of the victory over the 49ers. "San Francisco? I really don't count that as a win until you start playing the cream of the crop, the Seattles, the Philadelphias, the Buffaloes. Until then..."

Still, Sunday's victory was huge. The Cardinals kicked themselves all off-season over losing to San Francisco twice. The 49ers won just three other games.

"That was really important," Whisenhunt said. "And it was almost like going back to the scene of the crime. We had that same situation last year and we weren't successful.

"Now, in this situation we were, and I could see our team recognizing that, and to me, that's a big step."

SERIES HISTORY: 10th meeting, Dolphins lead series, 8-1. The teams meet for the first time since the Cardinals won, 24-23, at Miami in 2004. That loss prompted the departure of Dave Wannstedt as Dolphins coach. This will be the teams' third meeting since 1999. The Cardinals don't know a lot about Miami, but some of their offensive coaches are familiar with Dolphins coaches and are former assistants under Bill Parcells.