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More than 10 minutes had passed since Sean Morey’s blocked punt sealed the Cardinals’ thrilling 30-24 overtime victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt already had addressed the team, and now he was in the pressroom, answering questions from the media.

On most Sundays, the players rush to the showers, anxious to get some dinner and relax.

But this wasn’t like most Sundays.

This was a game that turned grown men into screaming kids and, possibly, transformed the reputation of a franchise.

“Hopefully we can get some recognition now,” linebacker Karlos Dansby said. “We beat a 4-0 team last week (Buffalo) like they were stealing something from us. Today, we treated America’s Team like they were stealing something from us.

“We can beat anybody in the country. Our time is now.”

It’s always dangerous to make such bold proclamations. The NFL season is a turbulent ride. If Arizona loses its next two games, on the road against Carolina and St. Louis, Sunday’s drama will be filed away and forgotten.

Still, it’s hard not to think that the Cardinals finally have arrived.

And that Oct. 12, 2008, will be remembered as the day the Same Ol’ Cardinals died.

“This was a statement game,” said defensive end Antonio Smith. “We’re not going to be intimidated. We’re not going to bow down. We can beat anybody.”

Let’s take stock for a second.

The Cardinals are 4-2 for the first time since 2002.

They have a two-game lead in the NFC West, the first time they’ve been two games up in a division since arriving in Arizona.

They’re talented, they’re tough and, most importantly, they’re oblivious to the ghosts that have haunted the franchise for years.

Take Sunday’s game.

The first half could have crushed the Cardinals’ spirit. The officials blew a play dead in which Dallas quarterback Tony Romo clearly fumbled the ball at the Cowboys’ 19-yard line.

Late in the second quarter, defensive end Antonio Smith smothered what appeared to be another Romo fumble, this time in the Dallas end zone. But Cowboys’ coach Wade Phillips challenged the call, and the officials ruled that Romo was trying to tuck the ball and called it an incomplete pass.

The Cowboys then drove 90 yards for a touchdown, and what should have been a 14-0 Cardinals lead was 7-7 at halftime.

Past Arizona teams would have hung their heads. It was easy to surrender because they had done it so often.

But this team is different, and this victory was as much a testament to its character as it was its talent.

“There were a lot of times during the game where I thought our team could have given up,” Whisenhunt said. “ ... It didn’t seem the like the bounces and calls were going our way. Sometimes, you have to overcome those things. Our team did that. It’s part of growing up and being mentally tougher.”

That toughness was never more evident than in overtime.

Admit it: When Dallas scored 10 points in the last two minutes of regulation to tie the score, you thought, “How many times have the Cardinals lost games like this?”

And the mind couldn’t help but think back to that Monday night in 2006, when the Cardinals choked against the Chicago Bears and never recovered.

Instead, the Cowboys lost seven yards on three plays and then, just like that, it was over, Morey blocking Mat McBriar’s punt — just how did he get in there so quickly? — Monty Beisel scooping up the ball at the 3 and falling into the end zone, and Whisenhunt running around the field looking for somebody to hug, more excited than anyone has ever seen him.

“I can’t remember one that was this crazy, especially at the end,” Kurt Warner said.

Interestingly, both Warner and Whisenhunt said the seeds of this win were planted in the second half two weeks ago, when they didn’t give up after falling behind 34-0 to the New York Jets.

“I think that was very important,” Warner said. “If we don’t do that ... who knows what happens to our football team.”

Could the Cardinals still fly south for the winter? Sure.

But don’t expect it to happen.

They’re too good, too well-coached — although Whisenhunt’s onside-kick call in the third quarter was a needless gamble — and now, they have the final piece of the puzzle.

They believe.