HOUSTON — Zach Allen swam to his left, then back to his right.
The Broncos defensive lineman powered one final time past Houston left guard Laken Tomlinson, wrapped one big arm around Texans backup quarterback Davis Mills, and, in the process, set his offense up to get one last chance with the ball.
Incomplete.
Three-and-out.
Again.
Denver’s defense engineered a familiar result with a plan adjusted for life without reigning defensive player of the year Pat Surtain II on Sunday, keeping the Texans out of the end zone and their own offense in the game long enough to mount yet another fourth-quarter comeback.
Long enough for quarterback Bo Nix to make a well-timed dash into field goal range.
Long enough for Wil Lutz to knock home his second walk-off kick in the past three games
And long enough to run Denver’s winning streak to six with an 18-15 squeaker in south Texas.
“I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage,” head coach Sean Payton said after the game. “If you want to know one thing, we controlled the line of scrimmage. We thought it was a big advantage for us in this game, our front against their offensive line.”
The Broncos are 7-2, haven’t lost since September and will be heavily favored returning home on a short week against Las Vegas on Thursday night.
They did not come by it easily.
Without an ace cover man like Surtain, the Broncos defensive front brought its own proverbial blanket to NRG Stadium.
They knew they’d have to deploy more resources in coverage against quarterback C.J. Stroud and a talented set of Texans receivers. That plan changed some on the fly when Stroud was knocked out of the game early with a concussion after a crushing hit by cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine.
Still, as the day went on, the Broncos’ withering pass rush made life difficult on Mills. Even better, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s front-line group was able to keep the Texans’ offense off-kilter without having to blitz frequently.
Allen, John Franklin-Myers and outside linebackers Jonathon Cooper and Nik Bonitto led a group that registered four sacks overall but generated consistent pressure.
This is what they wanted.
Jonathon Cooper (0) of the Denver Broncos celebrates sacking Davis Mills (10) of the Houston Texans with Zach Allen (99) of the Denver Broncosduring the second quarter at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
In a next-man-up league, there’s no one-to-one replacement for an All-Pro like Surtain. As much as the secondary had to cover his absence, the defensive front also took on the responsibility.
“We pride ourselves on rushing four,” Allen told The Denver Post. “We beg for it. Obviously, the ideal is you get to rush four with Pat. But at the same time, that (secondary) room is so freaking deep.”
Without Surtain, Joseph decided to use rookie first-round pick Jahdae Barron at cornerback in Denver’s base defense and then Abrams-Draine outside in nickel. Riley Moss, meanwhile, found top Texans receiver Nico Collins in key spots, but the Broncos didn’t match up as much as they typically do when Surtain is healthy.
Joseph likes to play man-heavy and try to force the ball to Surtain. Without him, they wanted to change the picture on Houston’s quarterbacks as much as possible.
“The numbers tell you when you pressure or play man, the one thing that happens for a quarterback is it speeds up your decision-making and you go right to ‘here,’” Payton said, referring to a quick option. “When you mix up the pressures, sim pressures, that can become a little bit more problematic.
“So our plan was rush and coverage. Then obviously that can unfold a little bit with a different quarterback in there, but overall it worked pretty well.”
Houston moved the ball in the middle of the field, especially with Stroud early. The Broncos, though, dominated in situational football.
They entered play No. 11 in the NFL on third down and No. 3 in the red zone and improved on both marks.
The Texans became the fourth team in nine games this season to not score a touchdown against the Broncos. They struck out on three trips to the red zone, including two goal-line stands from first-and-goal at the 2-yard line or closer. Houston committed a penalty on each of those sets of downs, but Denver overall defended five plays inside the 2-yard line and allowed 1 yard.
“It’s huge,” defensive tackle D.J. Jones said. “I mean, the ball was on the one, and they had an opportunity to score a couple times and they didn’t get in.
“That’s a salute to the defense up front.”
They authored a similarly dominant outing on third down, though it didn’t start that way.
Stroud cashed in a pair of third-and-8s on the Texans’ opening drive by targeting Abrams-Draine and then moved the chains again on a fourth-and-2 completion to Christian Kirk.
That drive ended in a missed 51-yard field goal attempt after a 9-yard sack from — who else — Allen on third down.
That is how the rest of the afternoon went for Denver’s defense and Houston’s offense.
The Broncos won 14 of Houston’s final 15 third-down tries, including nine straight to finish.
Dondrea Tillman (92) and Malcolm Roach (97) of the Denver Broncos tackle Nick Chubb (21) of the Houston Texans during the fourth quarter of the Broncos’ 18-15 win at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
“It’s understanding situational awareness,” safety Talanoa Hufanga said after recording nine tackles and a pair of near-interceptions. “… We’re very intentional on what types of routes we’re going to get, down and distance, understanding the situation of the game.
“Is it a plus-50 four-way play where they’re going to go for it on fourth down? Is it backed up, third-and-12 and they’re going to screen/draw? There’s always different situations, and I just give credit to our defense for understanding those situations at the right time to get off the field.”
The Texans punted the final six times they got the ball, starting in the middle of the third quarter, and managed just one first down in that span. They had 12 first downs on their first five drives and three on their final nine.
“Coach was big on rush and coverage this week, and this was a game where he just let us rush,” Bonitto said. “… We like it, too, when they trust us to get after the passer just rushing four and knowing the DBs are going to do their thing.”
That performance helped Denver overcome a 9-yard hole in average starting field position, a minus-2 outing in turnover differential, long swaths of offensive malaise and a nearly crippling set of special teams errors ranging from a blocked field goal and muffed punt to penalties and situational miscues.
The Broncos went three-and-out five times and had just two possessions last longer than 2 minutes, 57 seconds, but Nix also threw a pair of touchdowns and helped engineer an 11-0 fourth-quarter that resulted in Denver’s fourth fourth-quarter comeback in the past five weeks alone.
It wasn’t pretty.
It wasn’t efficient.
It wasn’t particularly confidence-inspiring.
That hardly mattered to Payton after the game.
“I liked the win,” he said flatly.
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