Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton initially said he didn’t have a name for their last offensive play on Sunday. Then he came came up with one.

“Lets call it ‘Chaos,’’’ he said Monday.

Some 20 hours after Denver lost 22-17 at Houston, Payton was still perturbed about his team’s five-game winning streak coming to an end. And he was especially upset over what happened when the Broncos (6-6) had a chance to win while facing third-and-goal at the 8-yard line.

Quarterback Russell Wilson was pressured and threw his third interception with nine seconds remaining. Veteran safety Jimmie Ward got the pick by stepping in front of tight end Lucas Krull, who had been elevated from the practice squad for the game.

“Communication has to be on point,’’ Payton said. “The last play of the game, we leave a shift off, so at the snap of the ball, you have three receivers that are trying to run a route. But they haven’t shifted into their final formation.”

Lining up on the left side were wide receivers Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy and Krull. Alone on the right side was wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr.

It seemed odd that Krull was even in the game. The second-year man has not caught a pass in three career regular-season games. He has two targets in two Denver games this season, the first being an incompletion on Nov. 13 at Buffalo and the second on Sunday.

“There was no shift, so certainly from your vantage point, it looks like, man, they’re calling on Lucas to be the hero here,’’ Payton said. “I can promise you he was in the progression of three receivers, but the shift doesn’t happen and then we’re playing street ball. What does Lucas provide? We feel like he does give us a really good receiving threat (and) speed down the field as part our speed-11 group. … I don’t blame you for looking at that play and kind of wondering where people are and where the ball is going. I was doing the same thing.”

Overall, it was a shaky offensive performance by the Broncos, who were 0-for-11 on third-down conversions and were minus-three in turnover margin, thanks to Wilson’s interceptions. Still, they had a chance to win in the final seconds after having fallen behind 16-3.

Wilson, who completed 15 of 21 passes for 186 yards, threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Sutton to cut the deficit to 16-10 late in the third quarter. And he threw a 41-yard pass to Jeudy that led to a Wilson 1-yard run that trimmed the deficit to 22-17 early in the fourth.

The defense stepped up in the second half following an ugly first half in which the Broncos gave up 259 yards. They had all five of their sacks on Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud and allowed just 94 total yards after intermission.

But Wilson threw all his interceptions in the final 16 minutes. And the last one really hurt.

“The pocket wasn’t the best,’’ said center Lloyd Cushenberry III. “He tried to roll out and tried to make a play and it didn’t go our way. But I have faith if we get in that situation again, we’ll be better and we’ll come up with that.’’

With the Broncos playing at the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, there will be much more to address this week than just their last offensive play against the Texans.

“We have to be better in that area,’’ Payton said going 0-for-11 on third-down conversions against the Texans. “Our third-down plan has to be cleaner. It wasn’t a game where so many of them were third-and-long.”

Payton also vowed to address a continued problem of Denver starting out slowly on offense in the second half. In their 12 games, the Broncos have scored just once on their first possession after halftime, a touchdown Oct. 22 against Green Bay.

“We may look at putting together a second script between the second quarter and the start of the third quarter,’’ said Payton, adding that such a maneuver would not impact the Broncos’ decision to defer to the second half when winning the coin flip.

Cushenberry said some of the issues with the offense can be cured if the line provides better protection for Wilson. He was sacked three times on Sunday and the Texans had five other quarterback hits.

“I think it all starts with us up front,’’ Cushenberry said. “We got to give (Wilson) and our playmakers more time. We got to have them more comfortable in the pocket. It wasn’t good enough. So it all starts with us front and making sure he’s able to see things down the field and we got to be better for him.”

Wilson said after Sunday’s game there is a “sense of urgency” for the Broncos. After fighting their way back from a 1-5 start to get to 6-5, a two-game losing streak could be crippling to their playoff hopes.