TEMPE, Ariz. - Two of the NFL's biggest losers over the past decade or so are squaring off on Sunday - and both are coming off a win, for heaven's sake. That's parity at its most unexpected.

The Cincinnati Bengals have won two in a row, and the Arizona Cardinals are coming off an upset over San Francisco.

The Bengals are favorites for the first time this season, and on the road no less. Who knows the last time that happened?

''I'm not concerned about any history. I'm concerned about this week,'' Arizona coach Dave McGinnis said. ''Recent history is what I'm looking at with what Cincinnati's done, and recent history tells me they've beaten two teams in a row that have beaten us.''

The Bengals have consecutive victories over Seattle and Baltimore and have won three of four. They are a game behind first-place Baltimore in the AFC North. A victory Sunday would put them at 4-4 and give them their first three-game winning streak since 1999.

''We are sitting here at 3-4 but it feels even better than that because we've played well all year, even in the games that we've lost,'' quarterback Jon Kitna said. ''There is a confident feeling in the building for the first time since I've been here.''

Cincinnati was 4-3 as recently as 2001, but finished 6-10. That puts a 3-4 start in perspective.

''Yeah, we're happy to have won those three games, but we're not happy to finally have arrived because we haven't arrived yet,'' offensive tackle Willie Anderson said. ''We still haven't gotten to .500, and that's the main goal this week, to get to .500.''

First-year coach Marvin Lewis has downplayed his team's success all week.

''We have not accomplished anything yet,'' he said, ''so we have no reason to be overconfident.''

Kitna wondered why the Bengals are favored.

''We are going on the road. They just came off a big win. Their defense has been playing well lately,'' he said. ''They've got one less victory than us, so we are not in position to start looking at teams and thinking 'Oh, we should win this one.'''

The status of Corey Dillon was a major question mark heading into the weekend. The star running back has missed two of the last three games. A groin pull kept him out of the Oct. 5 overtime loss to Buffalo and bothered him throughout the following week's victory over Baltimore.

Last week, Dillon caused a stir when he said he was unhappy with the Bengals and wanted out, complaining he wasn't getting the ball enough. Then he was late arriving for Sunday's game against Seattle because of his involvement in an auto accident. There wasn't time to evaluate his groin injury, the Bengals said, so he was inactive again.

Dillon's status for the Arizona game was downgraded to questionable Wednesday.

''I don't want him to feel obligated to play if he can't shoulder the load,'' Lewis said.

Rudy Johnson rushed for 101 yards in 27 carries in Dillon's absence last week.

Arizona quarterback Jeff Blake never has played the Bengals since he left Cincinnati after six seasons in 1999.

''Coach Lewis has done a good job there. Hopefully they'll continue to let him do the things that he's doing to help the organization turn around,'' Blake said, ''because when I was there, it wasn't going to happen.''

Lewis has brought discipline and detail to the program.

''I'm not sure what has changed,'' he said. ''I just try to do things the way I know. We are holding guys to a very high standard, how we meet and take notes and study the opponent, how we practice. Those are the important things that I am worrying about.''

McGinnis said coaching has made all the difference.

''The last three or four years, Cincinnati has had a very talented football team,'' McGinnis said. ''I think what Marv has done is come in there and injected his personality into that football team. I'm sure Marv's not through with what he wants to do, but they look very energized and they've played two very good football games in a row.''

It will be the fourth game in eight days at Sun Devil Stadium, where the Monday night game was shifted from San Diego because of the severe wildfires there.

With a NASCAR race in town, and the Lakers meeting the Suns on Saturday night, the Cardinals' home crowd could be the smallest of the season, and that's saying something. They drew 23,127 for Seattle and 24,193 for Baltimore. As of Thursday, fewer than 22,000 tickets had been distributed for Sunday's game.