"It's a good time to let them have a chance to heal up and get away from it," Whisenhunt said, "so we can focus on the last 10 weeks of the season when we come back."

The victories over the Bills and Cowboys were at home, where the Cardinals have won six straight and are 9-2 since Whisenhunt became coach. When the team comes back on Monday, the No. 1 issue will be how to transfer that home prowess to the road.

Whisenhunt believes those two wins, especially with the ups and downs of the 30-24 overtime victory over Dallas, will bolster the team's confidence that it can get it done away from Arizona.

"Hopefully we'll see the results of that the first week," he said.

After this week's bye, the Cardinals play at Carolina and at St. Louis. Arizona is 1-2 on the road this year and 3-8 the past two seasons.

Quarterback Kurt Warner believes the key to Cardinals success on the road lies in what happens from the moment their plane leaves the ground.

"I think it has to do with guys having to figure out how to get the proper preparation, get the proper rest and bring the proper intensity on Sundays," he said. "That's the bottom line."

The Cardinals might have standout receiver Anquan Boldin back for the Carolina game. Boldin has missed two games while recovering from surgery to repair a sinus fracture.

The injury occurred when he was leveled by a helmet-to-helmet hit from safety Eric Smith in the waning seconds of Arizona's 56-35 loss to the New York Jets. The NFL suspended Smith for one game and fined him $50,000.

Boldin slipped out without talking to reporters following the team's only practice this week, on Wednesday, but Whisenhunt was optimistic.

"It's really a matter of seeing where he is next week because he's done some work out here," Whisenhunt said. "He's running around. I think it's all a question of how he feels in getting in some practice reps."

In Boldin's absence, second-year pro Steve Breaston has emerged as a significant threat alongside the Pro Bowlers Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald. In the last three games, Breaston has caught 24 passes for 301 yards.

Linebacker Travis LaBoy has a mild groin strain, but Whisenhunt said no one on the team is so seriously injured that they can be ruled out for the Carolina game.

"We're definitely going to be potent coming out of the bye," Fitzgerald said.

Dealing with slight success has not gone well for some Arizona teams in the past. This is, after all, a franchise that has had one playoff appearance in 24 years and one playoff victory in the last half-century.

Then-coach Dave McGinnis directed the 2001 Arizona team to a 4-2 start, capped by an overtime win over Dallas, only to see it lose nine of its remaining 10 games.

So Warner, who knows true success as a Super Bowl champion, scoffed at any notion the team might spend too much time feeling good about itself.

"It's six games into the season," he said. "There's a whole lot of work to be done before we need to be celebrating anything. I don't know how you win a couple of games and you think you can rest on your laurels, especially the way it's been around here."

Arizona enters the bye week with a two-game lead over San Francisco in the NFC West. After the two games on the road, the Cardinals play five of their last eight, and three of their last four, at home.

"I think we're in a good position right now, but there's so much work ahead of us," Whisenhunt said. "It's still only six games. I mean, we're not even halfway through the season yet.

"We're in a good position at the bye, but we have a lot of work to do and a lot of games to win before we can be comfortable with where we're at."