In Week 4, the Bears faced a major juncture in the Matt Eberflus and Ryan Poles era, even if no one wanted to talk about it.

Some social media types and other critics talked about it, but it looked pretty bleak when the team was 1-2 on the season and facing the Rams that weekend. However, they came away with a win against the injured team and then continued their winning streak.

In a way, we’re back to Square One. The situation is much more critical this week against the Arizona Cardinals, and they are playing away, not at Soldier Field.

Beating Arizona in a road game would be a huge accomplishment because the Cardinals aren’t a bad team at 4-4 and are coming off a big win of their own against the Miami Dolphins.

Yes, the game is important for the offense because they need to see a better performance from Shane Waldron in the first quarter and even the first half. They need less stupid play calling at the goal line.

The defense needs to show it can maintain the lead after Sunday’s Hail Mary.

However, this is very important not only for this year’s team’s win-loss record, but also for the future of the series.

It’s the middle of the Bears’ third season in this spectacular rebuild under George McCaskey’s hand-picked leaders. Now they are losing to teams that started rebuilding projects after them. Some of these rebuilding projects were as big or bigger than the one the Bears undertook.

The Washington Commanders beat the Bears with just a handful of starters from last year; The Bears’ head coach refused, and the Bears rejected their offensive coordinator so they could get coaching Eberflus and Shane Waldron.

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They have just started rebuilding the Commanders and not only have new players, new coaches, but also new owners. They rebuilt and took over their division in one offseason. They beat the Bears after going 40-20 one season.

If the Bears lose to the Cardinals, they will lose to a team that started a rebuild under coach Jonathan Gannon and lost to the Bears 27-16 last year.

In Year 2 of their rebuild, the Cardinals are tied for first place in the NFC West and have managed to beat Jim Harbaugh and the Miami Chargers in consecutive weeks. Beating the Cardinals might not be like beating the Chiefs, Bills or Eagles, but it would at least mean beating a talented team.

The Bears eventually had their first three-game winning streak under Eberflus, which ended with a Hail Mary pass. They couldn’t beat a single team in this game that anyone would call a playoff contender. The Rams might have been there eventually, but the Rams team the Bears were playing was missing its two best offensive weapons.

The truth is, the Bears couldn’t beat a good team other than Detroit at Soldier Field last season. They could not win against a good and respected team away. They are on their way under Eberflus from 3 to 17.

They lost on Sunday to a quarterback they could have drafted but didn’t. In week 2, they lost to another, CJ Stroud. They even lost away to Anthony Richardson, and no one is confusing him with their best point guard talent this season.

Rebuilding teams are beating good teams everywhere. Sean Payton took over the Broncos last year and they have a better record than the Bears. The Seahawks have a new coach and are in first place in the NFC West. Meanwhile, the Bears still sit in last place in the NFC North.

The Bears should have been rebuilding by now. As the Poles say, it is impossible to take the North and not give it back, if you are 3-17 away under your head coach, even if they have won nine in a row as a home team.

Since Sunday’s disaster, social media and talk shows have been calling for Eberflus’ job, some for the Poles, and, as usual, for the McCaskeys to sell the team.

Everything is overrated because of one loss taken alone, but examine the trend. see how Eberflus’ teams always had trouble holding the lead Even before the Bears blew a big lead over the Broncos, Lions and Browns. It happened with the Colts too.

There always seems to be some questions about strategy or operations when the team is under pressure, as was the case with yesterday’s questions about the last 20 seconds.

None of this seems conducive to building a division winner, and you’re not passing on quarterbacks in the draft who become instant NFL stars while trying to score in the first quarters.

If the Bears think the excitement is building after Sunday’s loss, wait and see what happens if they post a 4-4 record in their first home game since early October when they play the New England Patriots on Nov. 10. Right before they start divisional play against the Packers, the biggest thorn in their back.

Twitter: BearsOnSI