CHICAGO -- The Bears earned the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft after a 29-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in the season finale.

Chicago, which held the No. 2 pick entering Week 18, jumped Houston in the draft order after the Texans beat the Indianapolis Colts 32-31. The Bears needed to lose and have the Texans win to secure the top spot in the draft.

Trailing 31-24, Texans quarterback Davis Mills threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Akins on fourth down with 50 seconds left and then connected with Akins again on the 2-point conversion. The victory improved the Texans to 3-13-1.

"It's pretty simple. We play to win the game. It's kind of simple as that," Texans coach Lovie Smith, who coached the Bears from 2004-12, said when asked why he decided to go for 2 after the touchdown. "That's all the way down in our organization."

The Bears finished 3-14, their second three-win season since 2016. Quarterback Justin Fields did not play in the season finale due to a hip injury suffered last week at Detroit. Fields finished his second season 64 yards shy of the single-season quarterback rushing record. Chicago owned the league's top rushing offense and was last in passing in 2023.

Bolstering the defensive and offensive lines are among Chicago's top priorities this offseason. The Bears registered the fewest sacks per game (1.3) of all NFL teams and pressured opposing quarterbacks on 20.9% of dropbacks, which ranked 31st.

In his latest mock draft, ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid had Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter going No. 2 to Chicago, followed by Alabama outside linebacker Will Anderson and Texas Tech defensive end Tyree Wilson. All three players could be options to help fix Chicago's pass rush.

Chicago also has pressing needs at wideout. Darnell Mooney, who suffered a season-ending injury in Week 11, finished as the team's leading receiver with 493 yards and two touchdowns. Mooney, Equanimeous St. Brown, Chase Claypool and Velus Jones Jr. are the only Bears receivers under contract for the 2023 season. St. Brown signed a one-year extension with Chicago last week.

The Bears find themselves in a high-leverage position should they decide to trade back. Chicago is not currently among the quarterback-needy teams drafting early in the first round, which include Houston, Indianapolis, the Detroit Lions and Carolina Panthers. Alabama's Bryce Young, Ohio State's C.J. Stroud, Kentucky's Will Levis and Florida's Anthony Richardson are all off the board in Reid's latest mock draft by the ninth overall pick.

Chicago has drafted first overall twice in franchise history, but it hasn't happened since the 1940s.

In 1940, the Bears selected Michigan halfback and Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon No. 1 overall. Harmon never played for the Bears. After serving in the military during World War II, he played two seasons for the Rams (1946-47).

Chicago also had the No. 1 overall selection in 1947 and drafted halfback Bob Fenimore from Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State). Fenimore played one NFL season and appeared in 10 games for the Bears in 1947.

The NFL has several recent examples of teams falling out of the No. 1 draft spot with wins in the season finale.

Entering the final week of the 2021 season, the Jaguars were 2-14 and the Lions were 2-13-1. Both teams won their Week 18 games, which led to Jacksonville earning the No. 1 pick and Detroit securing the second overall pick. In 2006, the Lions beat the Cowboys in the finale and fell to No. 2 in the draft, while the Raiders got the No. 1 pick. Oakland took JaMarcus Russell with the first pick, and the Lions took Calvin Johnson. In 2003, the Chargers and Cardinals both entered Week 17 with 3-12 records and both walked away with wins. The Chargers still got the No. 1 pick and took Eli Manning before swapping him for Philip Rivers on draft day. The Cardinals would have gotten the No. 1 pick with a loss but fell to No. 3.

ESPN's DJ Bien-Aime contributed to this report.