Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears' wonderful, delightful, not bad, very good day

Published Dec. 31, 2023 4:47 p.m. ET

The Chicago Bears are ending 2023 with a banger of a day. On New Year's Eve, they won their fourth game in five weeks with a 37-17 victory over the Atlanta Falcons at home while simultaneously clinching the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Those things rarely coincide.

Thanks to the Arizona Cardinals pulling off a shocking win on the road in Philadelphia, the Carolina Panthers are now guaranteed to finish with the worst record in the league. The Bears own that pick thanks to trading the No. 1 pick in 2023 to Carolina and picking up the Panthers' 2024 first-round pick as part of a sizable return.

It means Chicago's front office has limitless possibilities this offseason.

This comes off a report by NFL Network's Ian Rapoport that the Bears are expected to retain head coach Matt Eberflus, should Chicago finish the season strong. Eberflus' defense nabbed four interceptions in their win over the Falcons. They had seven pass breakups and five quarterback hits to accompany two sacks.

Offensively, the Bears seemed to figure out out how to exploit quarterback Justin Fields' skillset. They ran the ball 37 times. Fields pushed the ball downfield to wide receiver D.J. Moore, who had five catches of over 20 yards, including two catches for 32 yards. Moore also had Fields' only passing touchdown of the day. Chicago's 37 points were the second-most of the season behind only the 40 they put up in their first win of the season over the Washington Commanders in Week 5.

It makes the decision on Fields' future that much more complicated — but those are good problems to have. The first overall pick could yield even more in a trade than it did in April given the quarterback talent in this year's draft class. If the offense can commit to the system that helps Fields, i.e. what we saw on Sunday, the Bears could have an incredible amount of draft capital to fill what are now limited holes on the roster.

If they elect to restart the quarterback clock with one of those aforementioned quarterback talents in the draft, the return they could get for Fields in a trade is only increasing. The Bears could have their cake and eat it, too — adding a new quarterback while also completing the surrounding roster.

[Vitali: The Justin Fields conundrum: Breaking down Bears' branching offseason timelines]

The Bears are now 7-9 on the season with one game left to play. But no matter what, they have reasons for optimism come next season. It's the best day of the year for the Chicago Bears and it came in right at the buzzer.

Carmen Vitali covers the NFC North for FOX Sports. Carmen had previous stops with The Draft Network and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, which added the title of Super Bowl Champion (and boat-parade participant) to her résumé. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV.