Nix has scoring passes of 30 yards to Sutton, 27 yards to Harvey while Denver D epitomized bend-don’t-break.

HOUSTON — Bo doesn’t always need to pass well to win.

Just give him a stingy Denver defense for support, 50 seconds left in a tight game, and watch him. If his arm isn’t working, his legs will.

Nix came through a 25-yard scramble and a 9-yard designed run as the seconds ticked down, setting up a 34-yard field goal for Wil Lutz. Good. The clock hit 0:00.

The stumbling, fumbling, struggling Broncos won again, defeating the Houston Texans, 18-15, in a defensively fought AFC contest Sunday at noisy NRG Stadium. It was the second winning field goal as time expired by Lutz in the three games. He also nailed a 39-yarder to stun the New York Giants, 33-32 on Oct. 19.

The Broncos are 7-2 and play Thursday night back home against the AFC West rival Las Vegas Raiders.

The Broncos don’t need the ball to stay in the game.

Despite barely having the ball in their possession in the first half, the Broncos have again rallied to tie the Houston Texans, 15-15 with 3 minutes gone in the fourth quarter.

Houston had the ball for 22 minutes, 39 seconds in the first half to just 7 minutes, 21 seconds for the Broncos.

Yet, the Broncos led, 7-6 at the 2-minute warning and are down by one score early in the second half. Why? Because the Denver defense held strong on two Houston possessions that reached first-and-goal from the 1 and first-and-goal from the 2, leaving the Texans to settle for short field goals. This after Houston’s game-opening drive used up more than 7 minutes and 30 seconds ended for naught as kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn missed, 51-yard field goal after a sack by Denver defensive lineman Zach Allen pushed the kick back to a missable distance.

The Broncos, meanwhile, got just two drives going as of early in the fourth quarter and finished both. Bo Nix hit Courtland Sutton with a deep pass to the left corner of the end zone for 30-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Nix then connected with an open RJ Harvey for a 27-yard pass deep near the right corner of the end zone.

Harvey’s fourth TD catch of the year is most ever by a Broncos’ rookie running back.

It was so 2025 Broncos, who entered the game with a 6-2 record. They have been mostly awful for at least three quarters yet still beat Philadelphia, the New York Jets, New York Giants and even the Tennessee Titans earlier this year. And now they are in relatively good shape on the road against the Texans. 

It was a strange first quarter where the Texans had the ball for two long drives, yet netted just 3 points against the classic, bend-but-don’t-break Denver defense.

Houston controlled the ball for more than half of the first quarter on the game’s opening drive, but the Allen sack on C.J. Stroud pushed Houston’s field-goal attempt back to 51 yards and Fairbairn missed.

The Texans had another great chance with their second possession as a 47-yard completion across the middle from C.J. stroud to Dalton Schultz eventually led to first and goal from the 1.

But Broncos inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw stepped up to make two, goal-line stops and the Denver defensive line held strong on third down. The Texans went for it on and fourth and goal from the 1, but a lineman moved and they settled for a short Fairbairn field goal.

Houston entered the game ranked 31st in red-zone offense – it doesn’t run the ball well — while Denver’s red-zone defense was ranked No. 1. So when space got tight, this was a mismatch in the visitor’s favor.

In between those two sustained Houston drives, Broncos’ running J.J. Dobbins had success running the ball, eventually leading to a 51-yard field goal attempt by Wil Lutz. But the kick was blocked straight up the gut by Houston defensive lineman Denico Autry. It was Autry’s 13th career blocked kick, tying him with Hall of Famer Julius Peppers for second since the NFL officially track of such things in 1991 (causing yesterday’s stars Ted Hendricks and Alan Page to cringe).

There was a scary moment early in the second half as Broncos’ cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine blasted Stroud who was finishing a scramble and slide. Stroud was down on the carpeted field for a couple minutes. Stroud would walk off under his own power while the flag against Abrams-Draine was picked up because he didn’t hit the quarterback in the head.

Stroud sat out the rest of the first half as he was being evaluated for a concussion. Backup Davis Mills, who was once Houston’s starter for the future, came in and played decent for a while but his backup status revealed itself in the second half. His first possession started at midfield as Nix was intercepted by Houston safety Calen Bullock, who ranged over to nab a deep pass intended for momentarily wide-open Courtland Sutton.

Mills completed passes of 26 and 10 yards to Nico Collins, setting up another first-and-goal opportunity from the 2. Again the Denver D stiffened. A holding penalty on Houston helped and Jonathon Cooper finished off the defensive stand with a 12-yard sack of Mills.

Fairbairn connected from 41 and Houston led, 6-0 midway through the second quarter – but not 17-0 as they could have had they not been stymied late in their drives by the Denver defense.

And then the Broncos being the Broncos, the offense did just enough to capitalize. Nix missed a wide-open touchdown throw, delivering too far on a pass intended for tight end Evan Engram, who ran a sideline-and-go route down the left sideline.

But on the very next play, Nix went deep left again, this time to No. 1 receiver Courtland Sutton, who beat single coverage for a 30-yard touchdown. The Broncos barely had the ball in the first half, yet were leading. 7-6.

The Broncos gave the Texans a field goal with seconds left in the first half as Michael Bandy, called up from the practice squad to replace the concussed Marvin Mims Jr. as the punt returner, mishandled a short punt and booted the ball back to Houston at the Denver 30 yard line.

Fairbairn made a 40-yard field goal as time expired in the first half for a 12-7 lead.

The Broncos were playing the game with Mims and star cornerback Pat Surtain II, who were out with injuries.

Nix was just 17 of 36 for 170 yards, two touchdowns and and interception with 1 minute remaining in regulation. Dobbins had 13 carries for 50 yards at that point.

Nix used his legs to set up the game-winning field goal by Lutz as time expired.


Hardly special

Special teams are once again hurting the Broncos as they were responsible for three poor plays:

1. Lutz’s blocked field goal in the first quarter.

2. Bandy’s fumbled punt return in the second quarter.

3. A 45-yard punt return by Houston’s Jaylin Noel that set up Fairbairn’s fifth field goal of the game in the third quarter.


Bronco Bits

Special teamer J.T. Gray left his first game as a Bronco with a hamstring injury in the third quarter. …

The Texans’ inducted Janice McNair into their Ring of Honor in a halftime ceremony. McNair is the wife of late owner Bob McNair and serves as the team’s senior chair.Â