Jones in a predicament, Gushue bounces back as pressure mounts for Canadian curlers

It was probably a little too early to call Canada's curling games on Sunday in Beijing must-wins — but they had to win them.

Having combined for four consecutive losses at the Olympics over the last two days of competition, Brad Gushue and Jennifer Jones were needing to get things headed in the right direction.

Gushue was able to get the job done against the USA and is now in a somewhat comfortable position, although with this level of talent there are no guaranteed wins at the Olympics anymore.

Jones, however, is in a predicament having lost three of her first four games — the latest loss against Switzerland on Sunday afternoon a disappointing defeat. With the game tied 4-4 in the eighth end and Canada having hammer, Jones gave up back-to-back steals of two and lost 8-4 to the undefeated Swiss.

WATCH | Gushue's Canada bounces back against United States:

It marks the second-straight Olympics Canadian women curling teams have started 1-3 and have a combined record of 5-8 in the last 13 games.

This is new territory for Jones at the Olympics — in 2014 when she led Canada to gold, her foursome went undefeated.

Now facing some adversity at these Games after starting 1-3, Jones is going to have to lean on decades of experience to find a way out of this jam. There's still a lot of curling left.

The thing about Jennifer Jones is that she never quits, regardless of whether she's fallen behind in a game or an event.

There's a level of confidence and resilience that Jones brings into every game she plays. That bodes well for the Canadians moving forward in a women's field loaded with talent.

But it has to turn around right now.

History shows that four losses is usually the cutoff for the playoffs at the Olympics.

WATCH | Jones' missed shots lead to back-to-back steals for Swiss

The Canadian women now play the Russian Olympic Committee on Monday morning and then face Eve Muirhead and Great Britain on Monday night in Beijing.

Gushue responds with win over U.S

Canada's curling men are still feeling the pressure but have created some breathing room after a dominating win over USA on Sunday morning in Beijing.

Gushue opened the Olympics with strong performances that led to victories over Denmark and Norway. But things went a little sideways in the following two games, with losses to Switzerland and Sweden — to be clear, Nik Edin from Sweden and Peter de Cruz for Switzerland are two formidable curling foes.

Those teams should be there competing for medals.

But up against the defending Olympic champion USA team, Gushue and company were nearly flawless.

What many people might not remember is that Gushue's journey to Olympic glory was anything but smooth. All those years ago in 2006, he had to defeat the United States in the final game of the round robin just to make it into the playoffs.

The rest is history. But Gushue has had his back against the wall at events throughout his illustrious career, and more times than not has fired back with a high level of curling.

Now the Canadian men have a full day off before taking to the ice Tuesday afternoon in Beijing. They'll play Italy followed by China.

With a 3-2 record now, Gushue is in the playoff picture and has most of the top talent already behind him.

Coming into these Games, in the wake of last Olympics where both Canadian teams failed to reach the podium, the pressure was ratcheted to a different level on curlers wearing the Maple Leaf.

Now the pressure is rising even more.

WATCH | Jones's Canadian women's team narrowly loses to Sweden: