HOUSTON \u2014 Rare were the times Bo Nix would walk off the field after a drive at Pinson Valley High School in Alabama and watch the team\u2019s punter walk onto it.<\/p>\n
But, boy, did those once-in-a-blue-moon moments make the quarterback stew.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was not very patient,\u201d Nix said Sunday after he personified the Denver Broncos\u2019 ability to stay the course in a sixth straight win, 18-15 against the Houston Texans. \u201cIf I got off the field and we had to punt, it was like the end of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
High school Bo would have had steam shooting from his ears Sunday at NRG Stadium. Nix threw a perfect, 30-yard touchdown pass to Courtland Sutton in the second quarter against the Texans, then led four straight drives that ended in punts. He threw another dime in the third quarter, this time a 27-yard touchdown to rookie RJ Harvey on a wheel route, but then operated three more drives that ended in punts, including two three-and-outs. Outside of the two touchdown drives, Nix and the offense had produced eight punts, an interception and a missed field goal against one of the league\u2019s elite defensive units.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t lead the league in yards and points (allowed) for no reason,\u201d Nix said of the Texans. \u201cWe knew it was going to be tough sledding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet, there the Broncos were in the final minute Sunday, like an old habit, finding a way. It\u2019s easier to stay patient as a quarterback when you know the next chance is coming soon. The Texans and backup quarterback Davis Mills \u2014 he entered in the second quarter after C.J. Stroud was knocked out of the game<\/a> with a concussion \u2014 put together a field-goal drive to start the third quarter that gave Houston a 15-7 lead. Their next six drives ended in punts. Houston converted its first two third-down attempts of the game and then failed 14 of its final 15 tries. The Texans had a first-and-goal at the Denver 1-yard line on one drive and a first-and-goal at Denver\u2019s 2-yard line on another. Both ended in field goals. The Broncos held an opponent without a touchdown for the fourth time in nine games this season.<\/p>\n \u201cOur defense is the best in the NFL,\u201d left tackle Garett Bolles said of the unit that played Sunday without cornerback Pat Surtain II, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can talk all day about how good our defense is,\u201d veteran receiver Sutton echoed in awe. \u201cI tell them boys all the time how grateful I am for them. Today, in particular, it became tough to put points on the board, and they continued to believe in us and continued to stick with us, understanding that, at some point, we\u2019re going to find a way to put points on the board.\u201d<\/p>\n The final three-and-out forced by Denver\u2019s defense \u2014 four of Houston\u2019s final six possessions ended that way \u2014 took only 24 seconds off the clock. That gave the Broncos one more chance.<\/p>\n On second-and-7 from his own 39-yard line, the clock reading 44 seconds, Nix moved to his right, a path he had traveled often Sunday as a way to mitigate the pressure from talented Houston edge rushers Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter. Texans linebacker Henry To\u2019oTo\u2019o shaded Nix\u2019s movement to the right, positioning himself to take away an underneath route or a Nix sprint to the edge. That\u2019s when the quarterback improvised. He turned the green grass into a track, sprinting 25 yards to turn Sunday\u2019s last-ditch drive into a winning one.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had given them that play style a few different times, and they had seen a couple of them,\u201d Nix said. \u201cIt was one where we wanted to move the pocket, get a new launch point and change up the pace for those edge guys. We got on the end, and it felt like everyone was running (to the right) for the pass. There ended up being a good lane, and I finally got to be able to use my legs at the end. They had done a good job closing lanes, rushing and keeping me in the pocket for a while. Finally, that movement caused a little bit of a lane in the defense. Then, it was just about getting all you could.\u201d<\/p>\n A few moments later, Wil Lutz hit his second walk-off field goal in three games. The win pushed the Broncos to 7-2, tying them with the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots for the best record in the NFL.<\/p>\n Winning ugly? Success in the NFL requires it. The Broncos were 1-6 in one-score games last season. It felt at times, defensive end Zach Allen said, \u201clike we were trying to find ways to lose close games.\u201d The Broncos are 5-2 in those same contests this season. Denver has outscored opponents in the fourth quarter by 60 points, by far the largest margin in the NFL. The Broncos have trailed in the fourth period in four of their last five games. They have won them all.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know all we have to do is keep fighting,\u201d said wide receiver Troy Franklin, who caught a score-tying 2-point conversion after Harvey\u2019s touchdown. \u201cEventually, it will break.\u201d<\/p>\n There are quantitative ways to measure the Broncos\u2019 close-game turnaround during their best nine-game start since the Super Bowl 50 champions also went 7-2 to begin the 2015 season. Nix finished the day ranked fourth in the NFL EPA per dropback in fourth quarters, according to TruMedia. He has accounted for nine touchdowns and just one turnover in the final stanzas this season. The Broncos have been able to run the ball late in games with J.K. Dobbins and Harvey, who added a career-best five catches for 51 yards Sunday. Opposing quarterbacks, meanwhile, have posted a cumulative 73.0 passer rating in fourth quarters against the Broncos, the fourth-lowest mark in the league.<\/p>\n There is something else to it, too, a quality Broncos coach Sean Payton has seen in the better units he\u2019s had across his two-decade career as a head coach. Call it the theory of compounding belief.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s funny, your team grows and morphs and evolves into something,\u201d Payton said. \u201cI don\u2019t think there was a person in the locker room that thought we were losing this game.\u201d<\/p>\n Taking the dub back home \ud83d\udde3\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/n1fl1AOfAr<\/a><\/p>\n