IF IT were simply a question of who can kick the ball further, Saverio Rocca already would have won his punting job in gridiron's National Football League.

In two pre-season games with the Philadelphia Eagles, Rocca is averaging seven more yards a kick than his rival — incumbent Dirk Johnson.

But in this case, statistics lie. The job is still too close to call.

"There's a little bit of a difference there," Rocca said yesterday after his three kicks in the Eagles' 27-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers. "It's not overly that much."

Rocca looked every bit the raw rookie yesterday as he had Tuesday on debut at Baltimore. He recorded impressive distances of 58 and 57 yards from scrimmage when he was given the task of kicking the ball long. But one of those kicks did not stay in the air long enough and was run back 19 yards by the Panthers. The other skipped into the end zone, meaning the Eagles had to give back 20 yards for the "touchback."

"He was up and down a little bit; consistency is going to be his main thing," said Andy Reid, Eagles head coach. "He's got to make sure he's got enough hang time on it."

The best of Rocca's three punts came when he was challenged to kick short for the first time this pre-season. With only 39 yards to work with, he lofted a 35-yard kick that a teammate marked at the four-yard line to pin Carolina deep.

"I stuck it," Rocca said. "I thought I didn't kick it that well, but we had a little bit of wind behind us. It got it there."

While Rocca finished the game with averages of 50.0 yards gross (from line of scrimmage to landing) and 37.0 net (including opponent gains), Johnson pinpointed his three kicks for averages of 40.3 gross and 33.7 net. "I thought Dirk did a pretty good job," Reid said. "It's a great competition right there."

With mandatory roster reductions on August 29 and September 2, Reid is prepared to put off a decision on the one punting job to the very end. "At least to the last week," he said.

"If I'm the one that's going to get cut, I'd rather not get cut sooner. I'd rather get cut later," Rocca said. "I wouldn't want to be making the decision, but I'd go with me."