PANTHERS EXPERIENCE POST-SUPER BOWL SLUMP.

Byline: BILLY WITZ

The last time Carolina headed for Philadelphia, Panthers rookie cornerback Ricky Manning Jr. declared in a radio interview that he didn't think all that much of the Eagles' receiving corps.

Turns out he was right, intercepting three passes in the NFC Champion ship Game in January and helping Carolina to its first Super Bowl.

The Panthers return to Philadelphia today and to know how circumstances have changed for Carolina, look who Manning was jousting with this time. Forget James Thrash, Freddie Mitchell or Todd Pinkston. Bring on Terrell Owens.

When Owens, the receiver who has transformed the Eagles' offense this season, pointed to himself and told reporters of Manning, ``This ain't what he wants right here,'' Manning was downright deferential. For a day.

Then Manning, who at UCLA always had more trouble covering his mouth than his man, fired back.

``If he wants to start it now, we'll start it now,'' Manning said. ``I was going to wait until Sunday, but he wants to start it on Wednesday. I'm not the type that is going to curl up and let him do what he wants. I'm not going to lay down for nobody, you know what I mean?''

Voluntary or not, the Panthers have spent most of their Sundays supine. If playing truth or dare with Owens turns out to be a humbling experience for Manning, he'll have company.

Here it is mid-October and the Panthers, who came so close to winning a Super Bowl nine months ago, find themselves faced with an uphill climb just to get into the postseason.

They are 1-3, crippled by injuries and have road games against the NFC's two best teams, the Eagles and Seahawks, sandwiched around a visit from the improving Chargers - all before the calendar hits November.

``We feel like we can play better than we have,'' Carolina general manager Marty Hurney said. ``This is a critical week. We have to get back to doing the things we do well.''

Those who follow recent history aren't surprised by Carolina's woes. Though the difficulties of Super Bowl winners in the salary cap era have been well documented - defending champs have combined to win one playoff game since 1998 - the fall has been even more precipitous for Super Bowl losers.

In four of the past five seasons, the Super Bowl runner-up has not only failed to make the playoffs but also has averaged seven fewer wins than the previous season. The Raiders fell all the way to 4-12 last season, the Rams went to 7-9 in 2002, the Giants to 7-9 in 2001 and the Falcons to 5-11 in 1999.

Coincidence or not, three of those coaches - Bill Callahan, Jim Fassel and Dan Reeves - were fired last year. The fourth, Mike Martz, is on the hot seat.

The only team to buck the trend was Tennessee, which went 13-3 in 2000, a year after barely losing the Super Bowl.

``Obviously we were aware of it, but we didn't give it much credence,'' Hurney said. ``Every year is different. Coming off the Super Bowl, our players' attitude hasn't changed. It's just so hard to win week in and week out, year in and year out, in this league.''

It's even harder when you're not healthy. The Panthers lost receiver Steve Smith and running back back Stephen Davis by the end of the season opener, though Davis could play this week. DeShaun Foster, Davis' backup, broke his collarbone last week, and the UCLA product won't be back until December - if at all. Defensive tackle Kris Jenkins was placed on injured reserve this week and the other tackle, Brentson Buckner, missed last week's loss to Denver.

Smith, Davis and Foster accounted for 17 of Carolina's 28 offensive touchdowns last season, and Jenkins is the anchor of a front four that many considered the best in the NFL at the start of the season.

Yet the injuries don't fully explain the problems. Carolina's run defense, 11th in the NFL a year ago, has fallen to 31st and last week allowed 193 yards to Denver's erstwhile fullback Ruben Droughns. The Panthers' rushing offense, seventh a year ago, is 28th this season at just 88 yards per game. Joey Harris, an undrafted rookie, will start today after being promoted from the practice squad.

``We have a philosophy and a formula,'' Hurney said. ``That's to run the football, stop the run and play good special teams. We have done those things as well this year. When you lose, everybody has opinions why, but there's a lot of factors that go into winning and losing.''

The most visible target has been the offensive line. Within five weeks after the Super Bowl, guard Kevin Donnalley retired, tackle Todd Steussie was cut for salary-cap reasons, and guard Geno James signed with Miami as a free agent. The Panthers brought in two free agents, tackle Adam Meadows (Colts) and guard Travis Claridge (Falcons), but Meadows retired in training camp and Claridge was cut.

That has journeymen Matt Willig and Doug Brzezinski, who had combined to start 56 games in 17 seasons, to man the right side of the line.

As anonymous as Willig might have been, there was no place for him to hide in last week's 20-17 loss to Denver. After guard Rich Tylski's false start nullified a game-tying 42-yard field goal by John Kasay, Willig picked up the flag and hurled it down field.

That drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, forced the Panthers to punt and they never saw the ball again.

Carolina coach John Fox called it ``a bonehead play.'' Willig, the veteran from USC, didn't argue. He apologized to his teammates afterward.

It was just the kind of mistake the Panthers largely avoided last season, when they won seven games by three points or fewer.

The only score that tight that Carolina lost last season was in the Super Bowl, an experience that no matter how much the Panthers might try to draw on seems further away by the day.

CAPTION(S):

3 boxes

Box:

(1) ON THE GRIDIRON

By Matthew Kredell

(2) NFL WEEK 6

- Daily News Wire Services

(3) SUPER BOWL LOSERS