FanHouse ChrisHarris

Devin Hester's absence is always a big deal for the Chicago Bears, but it seemed a lot less of a huge deal with the Bears defense swarming (admittedly, the Panthers poor play wasn't helping) and Chicago nursing a 17-6 halftime lead. Matt Forte is rolling, Kyle Orton looked pretty good. You know, all normal Sunday stuff.

But suddenly, Chris Harris caused a huge fumble, the Panthers offensive line started road grading and Jonathan Stewart found the end zone for his first career score to draw the Panthers within four points of the Bears.

And now, Hester's absence, as reported by the FOX sideline crew, matters a whole helluva lot. Hester hasn't done a whole lot, returning three kicks for an average of 21.7 yards per pop and two punts for 4.5 each. So, yeah, the Cats got lucky.

And now he's out for a game in which Dante Wesley is fielding punts inside the 10 yard line and attempting to return them in the face of four or five defenders without much success. So yeah, needless to say, there's been a slight shift in momentum.

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: Jake Delhomme is coming off Tommy John surgery so no one knows what to expect. At the end of 2006, some fans wanted someone new at quarterback. Before he was injured in 2007, he was off to a white-hot start. How he recovers will go a long way to a successful Panthers season. Matt Moore filled in nicely late last season and may be the team's future. Brett Basanez isn't ready for prime time. No more Vinny or Mr. Mittens. Heat Index: 5

Running backs: The Panthers have been looking for a Stephen Davis type back and may have found one in rookie Jonathan Stewart. He's the kind of bull coach John Fox likes to center his offense around. DeAngelo Williams will be more efficient as a change-of-pace back. Brad Hoover is back again as an effective fullback. Nick Goings is always around to back up anybody. Heat Index: 5

The Carolina Panthers have signed strong safety Chris Harris to a four-year, $3 million-per-year contract extension yesterday. The Panthers acquired Harris from the Bears for a fifth-round pick last August after Mike Minter retired, and he had a fantastic season, making 97 tackles and forcing 8 fumbles.

That's great, Panthers. Who's the free safety?

Deke Cooper is a free agent, and I think we all know neither he nor Quinton Teal are the answer here. There's a possibility Nate Salley could return. He was expected to start at free safety last season until a knee injury sidelined him for the season. His current status is up in the air.

My guess, though, is that Marty Hurney will either sign a free agent or draft someone this offseason. Ken Hamlin would be ideal, but the Cowboys are considering slapping a franchise tag on him. Cincinnati's Madieu Williams and Atlanta's Chris Crocker (Leave Britney alone!!!) and Minnesota's Mike Doss are also available, though nobody's talking about the Panthers pursuing any of them.

Either way, this position needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. If Hurney thinks the Panthers can count on a dodgy-knee Buckeye and a couple of no-names at safety, though, he's clearly deluded.

Hey, I'll be the first to admit that statistics can't begin to tell you everything about how a team or player is performing in the NFL. Take quarterback ratings, for example. Trent Green ranks 10th on the all-time list and Johnny Unitas is 49th, but which one would you rather have under center for your team?

Sometimes, though, they are a pretty good judge of how well you're doing. The Bears defense, for example, ranked fifth in 2006 and 28th in 2007. Even if they weren't quite that bad, Lovie Smith should be concerned about the way they played this year, right?

"I've heard the numbers about last year, how we were ranked fifth. At the end of the year last year, we weren't playing great defense. At the end of the year this year, I feel like we are playing good defense."

Just to refresh your memory, at the end of last season the Bears were in the Super Bowl so the defense must have been doing something right. This year's version did pick up its play down the stretch but Smith's comment has more to do with defending his decision to fire Ron Rivera and promote Bob Babich than any actual production.