With a win Monday Night, the Cardinals can wrap up their second straight NFC West crown. The 49ers would like nothing more than to play spoiler to a team they really don’t care for.

As Darnell Dockett points out, “”We’re talking about the only team in the division to beat us the last two years,” defensive lineman Darnell Dockett said. “This is probably the most exciting game of the year for me. It’s going to be a physical, grinding game with a ton of trash talk on both sides.”

That says a lot about not only the Cardinals’ utter domination in this division, but also about the big rivalry that has developed between these two teams. Although the margin of victory is usually slim, the 49ers may have their toughest task yet, attempting to contain a new and improved Cardinals team that will have a healthy Steve Breaston and Anquan Boldin this time around, something they did not have in San Francisco’s Week 1 win.

Making the challenge more daunting is the fact that Nate Clements will not be playing. Clements is arguably the 49ers best DB, and he plays the Cardinals’ receivers better than most.

When these teams first met, Arizona was clearly out of sync offensively. Ken Whisenhunt’s style of play calling was being worked back into the mix, since last year’s play caller Todd Haley left to become the Kansas City Chiefs’ head coach. All that seems like a distant memory now that the juggernaut Cardinals are back, and even better than last year’s model that made it to the Super Bowl.

The 2009 Cardinals have a rushing attack that must be accounted for. Tim Hightower has corrected many of his rookie mistakes and is running smarter, and harder than ever. His main weakness last year was dancing around in the backfield too much which resulted in negative plays. The knock on him was his low YPC—a paltry 2.8. This season he has upped that to an impressive 4.5.

Any football fan can take one look at Beanie Wells and clearly see the attributes that made NFL coaches drool before the draft. He is quicker to the hole than Hightower, and always seems to be a threat to break off a long run. Both of these backs possess lethal stiff arms, and are developing a reputation to be feared by opponents.

Although Arizona is still only 26th in rushing yards per game, to keep it in perspective know that they are third to last in rushing attempts per game. The Cardinals can and will use their rushing attack to create the kind of balance that championship teams possess.

The 49ers on the other hand have moved away from a rush-first team to a pass-heavy one. Alex Smith has resurrected his career since taking over for Shaun Hill in Week 7, and San Francisco is surprisingly dead last in rushing attempts per game.

One of the primary goals for both teams will be keeping their QB’s protected. In the first matchup, Shaun Hill was sacked four times and Kurt Warner was sacked three times.

Jeremy Bridges, the journeyman offensive lineman that drew rave reviews for his performance against Jared Allen last weekend in his first ever game playing left tackle, may once again get the starting nod ahead of Mike Gandy who is still making his way back from injury.