PHILADELPHIA FANS IN PAIN.

Byline: BILLY WITZ

The news came down Monday, and in Philadelphia, where they've come to expect the worst and are rarely disappointed, there was only one way to look at it.

Let the apocalypse begin.

An MRI exam on Eagles receiver Terrell Owens, injured in Sunday's win over Dallas, revealed a fractured fibula and strained ligaments in his right ankle. The latter will require surgery and is expected to sideline him until at least the Super Bowl.

The Eagles may be 13-1, securing homefield advantage throughout the playoffs and setting a franchise record for victories while making mincemeat of the NFC. But news of the severity of Owens' injury has changed everything - from playoff prospects to whether the city's most famous crack still belongs to the Liberty Bell.

``We Feel His Pain,'' read the tabloid headline in Monday's Philadelphia Daily News.

Trainer Rick Burkholder said Owens will undergo surgery Wednesday in which doctors will insert a screw above the ankle joint to help heal a sprain of the deltoid ligament. The fracture, located just below the knee, will be allowed to heal on its own.

If everything goes well, Owens could be riding a bike and working in a pool in three weeks. He could begin running in five weeks.

Burkholder said there was an ``outside chance'' Owens could play in the Super Bowl, but he wouldn't be at full strength and has ``a lot of hurdles'' to get to that point.

So, too, do the Eagles.

There may be other players who are indispensable (Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Randy Moss) and some other key additions to Super Bowl contenders (Corey Dillon, Duce Staley, Keenan McCardell, Rod Coleman), but nobody has transformed his team like Owens.

The Eagles have always played with admirable toughness under Andy Reid, but Owens and his outsized personality have given them a swagger. He had the audacity to mock Ray Lewis with a touchdown celebration earlier this season, and he seemed to lighten up Donovan McNabb.

A week after McNabb appeared annoyed with Owens yapping at him on the sideline of their only loss, McNabb jokingly chased Owens up and down the bench the next week, chirping in his ear during an easy win.

That came the night of his racy intro with actress Nicollette Sheridan on ``Monday Night Football.''

What Owens has done most, of course, is catch passes.

He's caught 77 passes for 1,120 yards and 14 touchdown passes - the latter number a franchise record - and he was within striking distance of the other two.

When he went down on the second play of the third quarter, the Eagles got a glimpse of what life will be like without T.O., and it was chilling - like getting visits from the Ghosts of Playoffs Past.

Philadelphia has lost three consecutive NFC championship games, its offense consisting of McNabb running around or dumping it off to a back or tight end. In the past two years, the Eagles have lost the NFC title game at home, scoring a total of 13 points.

When Owens went down, the Eagles offense immediately kicked into postseason form. McNabb threw a pair of interceptions, turned tight end L.J. Smith and running back Brian Westbrook into primary receivers, and made the biggest plays with his legs, scrambling for 12 and 19 yards on a fourth-quarter drive that lifted Philadelphia to a 12-7 win over the Cowboys.

The second-half reception totals for wide receivers Freddie Mitchell, Todd Pinkston and Greg Lewis: Zero.

Pinkston, who starts opposite Owens, was the subject of the Daily News' back cover, which read: In Todd We Trust.

This might be wishful thinking. For the second week in a row, Pinkston pulled away from a ball to avoid getting clocked, drawing the wrath of Eagles' fans.

The Hand of God may have won a World Cup for Diego Maradona, but the Hand of Todd won't win a Super Bowl - especially if it doesn't touch the ball.

Mitchell, the former UCLA star, hasn't gotten his hands on much of anything this season - just 14 receptions - which led to some grousing recently.

``Freddie's going to get his chances to make plays,'' Owens said in a conference call to Philadelphia reporters Monday. ``There shouldn't be any more excuses as to why he's not getting the ball. Now he gets his chance.''

So do the Eagles.

If they don't get to the Super Bowl, it will be another of the city's sports disappointments. The 1964 Phillies blew a 6 1/2-game lead with 10 to play. The 76ers blew a 3-1 lead in the 1981 NBA Eastern Conference Finals to the soon-to-be champion Celtics. And the Eagles' playoff losses the past two seasons.

Eagles fans already were bunkering down Monday on Internet message boards.

In a fan poll on the Eagles' Web site, the leading vote-getter to a question on the impact of Owens' injury on their prospects was ``Why us?''

Those who voted otherwise realized, Owens or not, the Eagles at least have the good fortune of still being in the NFC.

Some suggested this was comeuppance for Eagles fans, who infamously cheered when Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin lay paralyzed (temporarily) on the turf. They once booed Santa Claus.

Replied one poster, Lordbullington: ``Like I said at the time, Santa was having a bad year.''

All of a sudden he's not alone.