HOUSTON - Each week their chances have been diminished, dwindling down, down, down until they have become an afterthought in the minds of so many.

To play wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers these days is to accept anonymity, even during a week of hype like few imaginable. Here in the midst of Super Bowl hysteria, where over 3,000 reporters have gathered in Houston in search of a story — any story. But Stephen Smith, Muhsin Muhammad and Ricky Proehl are not stories. In fact, the only story that has been written about them all week is just that.

The only story is that there isn't one.

The conventional wisdom is that if the Panthers are to upset the New England Patriots on Sunday they must earn hard yards running the ball between the tackles with Stephen Davis, the NFC's third-leading rusher, and backup DeShaun Foster. To do it, they must be successful against one of the best run defenses in the game. One might assume Carolina could choose a line of lesser resistance, but that is not how head coach John Fox transformed his team from a 1-15 mess to NFC champions in two years.

He did it by playing defense and running the ball. He got his team to Super Bowl XXXVIII by knocking people over, not by throwing over people.

And the more success the Panthers have had this season, the more they've run it, each week making Smith, Muhammad and Proehl less and less of a factor.

Carolina is one of only six teams in the league to run the ball more than it passed — which has only been more pronounced as the season progressed. In the 15th game of the season, Carolina ran the ball only once more than it threw it in a win over the Detroit Lions. Against the Giants a week later it was four more times. In the wildcard playoff game with Dallas it was five more times.

Against St. Louis in the divisional playoffs, they ran it 15 more times than they threw it. By the NFC Championship game in Philadelphia it was a lopsided 26 more times, passing just three times in the second half after taking a 7-3 lead.

In the end, Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme threw only 14 passes, while Panthers running back carried 40 times, despite the fact Davis was hobbled with a strained quad. To say their offense was unbalanced was as obvious as saying Saddam Hussein was unbalanced.

So what will there be for Smith, Muhammad and Proehl to do against a Patriot defense that has intercepted more passes (29) than any team in the league?

Why would Fox let Delhomme throw against a ballhawking secondary that disguises its coverages better than any team in football and thus could cause a young quarterback like Delhomme no end of problems?

Logic says they throw the ball about as often as the 1925 Canton Bulldogs.

But New England cornerback Ty Law says he's not fooled by all that. He, like everyone else, expects the Panthers to pound the ball with Davis and Foster, but remains wary of what can happen if his defense buys into the hype that the Panthers don't, will not and cannot throw the ball.

“They're a very patient team, but when they do hit you, they hit you good,” Law said. “They have big play ability with their receivers.

Delhomme finds the open guy, so if you have a couple of guys concentrating on Smith, he's going to hit you with Muhammad. Concentrate on Muhammad and he's going to hit you with Smith. It's all set up by the run. Then they hit you with the play action pass.”

Smith certainly hit the Rams, knocking them out of the playoffs with a 70-yard catch-and-run for an OT touchdown when St. Louis was massed at the line intent on repelling Davis. The same could happen to the Patriots — but only if Carolina does throw the ball.

“Why would Carolina do anything different now than what got them here?” asked Patriots’ linebacker Ted Johnson. “It's basically meeting force with force. That's all right with us. From a player's perspective it's maybe not as hard to prepare because you do know what they're going to do.”

Really?

Although the Panthers' receivers are known as much for their downfield blocking as they are for their downfield receiving, Smith was fourth in the NFC with 88 receptions for 1,110 yards and seven touchdowns, while Muhammad, a big physical guy who fits well in Carolina's style of play, had 54 catches for 837 yards.

Muhammad, in fact, twice led the NFC in receiving (1999, 2000) and Smith is an emerging star with sprinter's speed and a star's cockiness.

Like the rest of the Panthers, Smith has no quarrel with the way his coaches have decided to run their offense. His quarrel is with people who cannot see that danger lurks on the edges of Carolina's offense for any defense that ignores them for too long.

“We make plays,” Smith said. “The media is going to make a story out of what it's going to make a story of. That just means there’s no pressure on offense because we’re considered not being anything any way, but I’m not the 11th guy out there playing with his fingers. I’m fourth in the NFL (in catches). I’m a baller. I don't need anyone to define me. If you haven’t seen me play yet, that's your fault, not mine.

“We aren't the Colts (whose passing game New England shut down completely to win the AFC championship and a trip to Super Bowl XXXVIII).

“Receivers for the Carolina Panthers are going to win some battles. You have to stay cool between the downs so you can concentrate and make that big catch when it’s your opportunity. We've done that game in and game out. We aren’t expecting any less from ourselves in this game.”

In Carolina, less is more for a player in Steve Smith’s position.

Little is expected from him or his running mates by most observers and more than a few Patriots.

But come Sunday night Smith, Muhammad and Proehl will share the same thought. While the rest of the world has forgotten them, they will be thinking of what can be if, for just one instant, the New England Patriots think as little of them as the rest of the world does.

“Our whole team is underdogs,” Smith said. ”Muhammad is washed up. Proehl can't catch. I'm lucky to be on the team. Everybody has a sad story. We're tired of sad stories. We're here.”

Don't be surprised if sometime Sunday night, the rest of the world finally notices ‘The After Thoughts’. If they do, the Panthers are only hoping for one thing. That they notice too late to do anything about it but scratch their heads and marvel at the story line they missed all along.

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