NFL DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS / PREVIEW

Arizona (10-7) at Minnesota (15-1)

1:15 p.m., Channel 11

* HEAD TO HEAD: The teams have split 16 games. In the most recent, on Oct. 5, 1997, the Vikings overcame a nine-point, fourth-quarter deficit to win, 20-19, on a 38-yard field goal by Eddie Murray with 10 seconds to play at Tempe, Ariz. The comeback was led by Brad Johnson, who passed for 292 yards and two touchdowns.

* SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: Playoff participants for the first time in 16 years, the Cardinals surprised the Dallas Cowboys, 20-7, at Dallas last week for their first postseason victory since 1947. “We exorcised a ghost,” offensive tackle Lomas Brown said of the victory over the Cowboys, who had won 16 of their last 17 games against Arizona. Jake Plummer was the exorcist, leading the Cardinals to their first victory of the season over a winning team by passing for 213 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, the Cardinals shut down the Cowboy receivers and intercepted three of Troy Aikman’s passes.

* SCOUTING THE VIKINGS: Led by quarterback Randall Cunningham, whose 106.0 passer rating was the eighth best in NFL history, the Vikings set a league record by scoring 556 points. Cunningham passed for 3,704 yards and 34 touchdowns, Robert Smith ran for 1,187 yards and Cris Carter and Randy Moss combined for 2,414 yards receiving and 29 touchdowns. Moreover, the league’s most explosive team finished with a rush, winning its last eight games by an average of 17 points, and seems eager to continue its run after taking last weekend off. “We just look at them as next in line,” wide receiver Chris Walsh said of the Cardinals, “and we’re planning on taking care of business.” The Vikings are especially difficult to beat amid the din of the Metrodome, where they were 8-0 during the regular season, with an average winning margin of nearly 24 points.

* NOW YOU KNOW: The Vikings are only the third NFL team to win 15 regular-season games, joining the 1984 San Francisco 49ers and the ’85 Chicago Bears, both of whom went on to win the Super Bowl.

* THEY SAID IT: Viking receiver Moss: “With our mind-set, I think we’re going out there to destroy anybody in front of us.”

* THE LINE: Vikings by 15 1/2