The pressure must have been immense for the Chicago Bears.

Pressure, defined as the continuous physical force applied to an object, prevailed as the Bears lost in heartbreaking fashion to their division rival.

That’s a big burden for a team, especially a Bears franchise that was just hoping to win the NFC North. The only problem was the heartbreaking loss to a division rival against Green Bay two weeks ago.

Then it happened again a week later against the Vikings.

Then on Thursday it happened for the third time when the Bears lost to the Lions.

The pressure proved to be too great. The Bears had finally reached their breaking point after 104 years of existence. After losing to Detroit due to a botched sequence at the end of the game, the Bears responded to this breaking point by firing head coach Matt Eberflus.

“This morning, after a meeting with George and Kevin, we informed Matt of our decision to move in a different direction with the leadership of our football team and the head coaching position,” Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles said in a Friday written declaration. “I thank Matt for his hard work, professionalism and commitment to our organization.”

That sequence against the Lions, in which the Bears called a timeout as time continued to tick away while the Bears had a chance to tie the game, was the reason the Bears won for the first time during a football season were able to fire a head coach.

It’s an unforgettable moment considering how much history the Bears hold.

The Chicago Bears have been around for over a century. This team has set so many standards across the board.

The Bears are a founding franchise. They marked a turning point in the public’s appreciation of professional football when they signed Harold “Red” Grange to a professional contract. The Chicago Bears middle linebacker position is synonymous with Yankees shortstop among Midwest players. The team’s best defenses went down as the best ever played in NFL history. George Halas was once the coaching standard for decades.

But despite everything the franchise is known for, the Bears have failed to win consistently in years.

They know how to build success — see the 1985, 1987, 2006 and 2018 seasons — but only one Bears team has a Super Bowl to show for it.

This season should buck that trend.

The Bears were putting together a team that featured young and experienced talent, an up-and-coming defense, and a quarterback who could be the star the Bears never had.

It never materialized. To make matters worse, the Bears kept finding other ways to lose.

Friday’s decision was a sign that the front office and owners want to change that.

They have reached their breaking point. Now we know what’s important.

There were six straight losses and three tough losses to NFC North opponents that the Bears have spent years building up to beat. Even after a 4-2 start, the Bears couldn’t take it anymore.

The Poles made the change. They could have handled it much better; The Bears held a news conference with Matt Eberflus at 9 a.m. Friday and released him two hours later.

“We understand how important the role of the head coach is in building and maintaining a championship-caliber team, leading our players and our organization,” Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren said in a statement. “Our fans have stood by us and overcome every challenge and they deserve better results. Our organizational and operating structure is strong, focused, aligned and energized for the future.”

Now it will be up to the Poles to find the next head coach of the Chicago Bears.

When he was hired in 2022, the Bears were conducting a simultaneous coaching search and a general manager search. This resulted in the Poles choosing from a handful of pre-selected candidates rather than candidates he had found through his own process.

Now it’s his job to carry out the process.

“I support Ryan and the decision made this morning,” Warren said in a statement.

The Bears continually made decisions based on the pressure.

In 2012, the Bears fired Lovie Smith after a 10-win season. There was pressure to get the Bears’ offense right, and the franchise decided it was too much. Marc Trestman and John Fox applied pressure to move on when the two coaches didn’t feel any real success.

In 2021, the Bears fired Matt Nagy as he went from winning 12 games in his first year to just five in his fourth year. But after the season ended, the Bears said goodbye to these coaches.

Eberflus’ firing came because the franchise couldn’t take it anymore. The Poles decided that the Bears franchise needed to take a new position. In this position, the team makes moves they have never made before.

Now the pressure is on for the Poles to find a head coach who will take the Bears to new heights, mold Caleb Williams into a star and turn the Bears into a contender in an ultra-competitive NFC North.

Not big.