The Chicago Bears have hit a bit of a wall over the last few weeks of the season dropping each of the last two games that have pushed them out of the top spot in the NFC North standings.

A huge part of these issues has come from their defensive shortcomings giving up more than 30 points in each of the last two weeks, which has been highlighted by All-Pro defensive end Khalil Mack being fully charged as he's working his way through an ankle injury. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has voiced that he doesn't believe his defense should use Mack's injury as reasoning for their struggles on that side of the ball, according to Bob LeGere of Pro Football Weekly.

“It may affect our overall performance, but it’s no reason for a guy over here and a guy over there to have a bad down because (Mack) is subpar,” Fangio said. “That’s just a fact. For anybody to use that as a crutch is just looking for a reason.

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There has been a notable drop in the production for Mack as he has gone through the last two games without a sack while garnering just three tackles over that stretch. He has been able to continue to play through the injury, but he hasn't been able to have the same type of impact on the game that he had to begin the year.

Granted, he had been off to a highly impressive start with 5.0 sacks and four forced fumbles through the first four games, it hasn't been anywhere near the same. His struggles to get to create pressure on the quarterback the last couple of weeks have put more work on the secondary that has struggled to contain opposing passing games.

It is still quite early in the season, but these defensive woes are something that the Bears must work to amend in order to get back to being considered a potential contender in the NFC this season.