Arizona

DREAM ON: It will take another dominating defensive effort Sunday at Minnesota for the dream to continue. But the club has become accustomed to beating the odds and accomplishing the unexpected, such as its opening-round upset of the Cowboys at Texas Stadium. It's one thing to choke off the Cowboys receivers, quite another to do it to the Vikings'. Rookie CB Corey Chavous, who played the game of his life with five knockdowns and two near interceptions, has to do it again against Randy Moss and Cris Carter. The club could afford the luxury of assigning Pro Bowl CB Aeneas Williams to shadow Michael Irvin, leaving the weaker Cowboys receivers for Chavous. With the Vikings, it's pick your poison. Emmitt Smith is a step slower than lib Robert Smith, who will be considerably more difficult to corral for DT Mark Smith and LBs Jamir Miller and Ron McKinnon. But the recent defensive game plans have been brilliant.

COVERING GROUND: It's unreasonable to expect another near whitewash when Facing the team that scored an NFL-record 556 points. So the Cardinals have to get more out of their offense. Twenty points against Minnesota could leave them two touchdowns in arrears. There were reasons for encouragement in the Dallas game, though. The team had its longest pass play-59 yards from Jake Plummer to Frank Sanders, and its longest rushing play, 74 yards by Adrian Murrell--of the season. Plummer didn't make many mistakes, though an interception deep in Dallas territory in the fourth quarter put some life back in the Cowboys. The Cardinals did not have a fumble and Plummer was not sacked. The offense has to continue to play nearly mistake-free football and get points out of every scoring opportunity to have any chance of beating the Vikings. But win or lose, this has been a breakthrough year for a young Arizona team. --Lee Shappell

Atlanta