While the fight for the best teams in the NFL was mostly set heading into Sunday, one of the bigger uncertainties was the battle for the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft.
The Houston Texans and the Chicago Bears entered as the favorites to get the pick. A Texans win and Bears loss would have given Chicago the top selection. Houston was finishing the season against the Indianapolis Colts and the Bears had a date with the Minnesota Vikings.
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The Texans made sure to make their final game of the regular season a nail-biter.
Texans quarterback Davis Mills threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Akins to cut the deficit to one point with 50 seconds left. Houston coach Lovie Smith decided to go for the two-point conversion and Mills found Adkins again to put the Texans up 32-31.
The Houston defense then shut down Colts quarterback Sam Ehlinger on his final drive and the Texans could pick up the win and ensure themselves the No. 2 overall pick of the draft. Houston won twice in the final three weeks to finish 3-13-1 on the season.
The Bears lost to the Vikings in a game that wasn’t really close. Vikings running back Alexander Mattison had two touchdowns on the ground and Kirk Cousins threw one to Adam Thielen.
Chicago got a touchdown pass from Nathan Peterman and a rushing touchdown from Velus Jones Jr. Peterman’s touchdown pass went to Cole Kmet.
The loss dropped the Bears to 3-14 on the season. Chicago will have the No. 1 pick in the draft for the first time since the NFL-AFL merger.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
