Bordow: Cardinals giving fans reason to be excited

It might have been when Kurt Warner completed his first nine passes.

Or when Anquan Boldin was scoring his second touchdown.

SLIDESHOW: Cardinals top Dolphins

Cardinals dominate Dolphins to start season 2-0

Dolphins sink to new low with inept performance

Cardinals passing game clicks against Dolphins

Cards notebook: Offense comes out firing against Miami

Or when Larry Fitzgerald was making another circus catch.

But sometime during the Cardinals' 31-10 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, my eyes were opened.

And guessed what I saw?

Our sporting salvation.

(Wait a minute. Did I really just say that?).

I did. And I'm sticking to it.

What other Valley sports team can we turn to for comfort?

The Diamondbacks? They've turned September into a death march.

Arizona State? The Sun Devils gagged against UNLV, taking the luster off their matchup against Georgia.

The Suns? Only if you believe in miracles.

No, it's the Cardinals who have our attention. And for once, it's for all the right reasons.

Arizona is 2-0 for the first time since 1991. If it beats the Washington Redskins on Sunday, it will be 3-0 for the first time since 1974, when Don Coryell was the coach and Jim Hart the quarterback.

You know how many current Cardinals were alive then?

Two.

Quarterback Kurt Warner and nose tackle Bryan Robinson.

Yeah, it's been a long dry spell. But that bird on the Cardinals' helmet may finally have something to crow about.

"No question, this is the best (Cardinals) team I've been on," defensive end Bertrand Berry said. "Talent, depth, camaraderie - you name it, we've got it."

Is it a bit early for such effusiveness? Sure. The Cardinals have beaten San Francisco and Miami. Their combined record last year: 6-26.

"These are two games we're supposed to win," defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said.

Maybe so. But how many times have we seen the Cardinals lose this type of game? Last year, the 49ers beat the Cardinals twice. In 2006, Arizona lost to an Oakland Raiders team that finished 2-14.

So let's not take for granted the manner in which the Cardinals methodically dominated the Dolphins.

Miami had just 236 total yards, and 89 of those came on a meaningless fourth-quarter touchdown drive.

Kurt Warner, meanwhile, had a flashback to his days in St. Louis, when the Rams were the Greatest Show on Turf. Warner threw for 361 yards and three touchdowns and had a perfect passer rating of 158.3.

Anquan Boldin caught six passes for 140 yards and Larry Fitzgerald had six receptions for 153 yards.

Forget Barnum and Bailey. Cardinals fans have their own three-ring circus.

"We have the best seats in the house to watch those guys," Berry said. "We're fans, too."

This may sound like lunacy, but Dennis Green is due a pat on the back. He was a miserable failure as the Cardinals' coach, but look at some of the players he drafted:

Fitzgerald. Dockett. Karlos Dansby. Antrell Rolle. Eric Green.

The Cardinals aren't 2-0 without them.

"He brought in a lot of talent," Dockett said.

And now, that talent, helped along by the steadying hand of coach Ken Whisenhunt, is blossoming.

As the Cardinals showered and dressed, word spread through the locker room that the 49ers had beaten the Seattle Seahawks in overtime in Seattle.

Suddenly, the only team capable of challenging the Cardinals in the NFC West was 0-2.

"That's even better for us," Dockett said.

Then Dockett caught himself. He knows that the meat of the schedule is ahead, starting with road games the next two weeks at Washington and the New York Jets.

"We haven't done anything yet," he warned.

Sure they have.

They've put the Diamondbacks' collapse on the back pages.

They've turned skepticism into optimism.

They've got us talking football and dreaming big.

"I don't want to get my hopes up too high," Fitzgerald said.

Why not?