HOUSTON – They have had quick recoveries and ones that seem to move in slow motion. Nevertheless, these battling Broncos are beginning to corner the market on comebacks.

For the fourth time in the past five games, Denver on Sunday fought back after being behind in the fourth quarter to win. In the latest one, Wil Lutz booted a 34-yard field goal on the final play for an 18-15 win over the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium, the Broncos’ sixth straight victory.

Two weeks earlier, the Broncos (7-2) had stormed back from deficits of 19-0 and 26-8 and had a 33-point fourth quarter to stun the New York Giants 33-32. But Sunday saw a comeback of the slow-motion variety.

“We were down 15-7 for awhile,’’ said safety Talanoa Hufanga.

Yes, they were. The Texans (3-5) went up by that score with 9:18 left in the third quarter on a 41-yard field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn, his fifth and final one of the day. Nobody scored again until Bo Nix threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to running back RJ Harvey and then a two-point conversion pass to Troy Franklin to tie the score 15-15 with 12:28 left in the game.

With quarterback C.J. Stroud having been lost for the game early in the second quarter with a concussion and having been replaced by Davis Mills, the Texans, by the fourth quarter, were doing next to nothing on offense. And Denver’s defense shut them down, giving Nix a chance to lead the team to the win.

“We knew it was a matter of time until there was a drive that we went down and scored,’’ Nix said.

The second-year quarterback had an erratic showing against the Texans, who came in No. 1 in the NFL in scoring and total defense. While he did throw two touchdown passes, he was 18 of 37 for 173 yards with an interception. It marked just the second time in his 26-game career that he completed less than 50% of his passes.

But Nix ripped off a 25-yard run to get the Broncos to the Houston 36 with 35 seconds left in the game. That set the stage for Lutz.

“Obviously, it put us in position to get the game-winning field goal,’’ said Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton. “(Nix has) been showing he can be dominant with his legs. It’s fun to watch him get out on the edge and scoot around a little bit.”

Recent fourth-quarter comebacks have also been fun for the Broncos. The stretch started when they overcame a 17-3 deficit at Philadelphia on Oct. 5 to win. 21-17. Then came Oct. 12 in London, when Lutz booted a late field goal for a 13-11 win over the New York Jets. Then there was the one against the Giants before the Broncos had a rare laugher with a 44-24 win over Dallas.

“It just shows the resilience of our team and the unwavering faith we have,’’ said Sutton, who caught just one pass but it was a 30-yard touchdown grab late in the first half for a 7-6 Denver lead. “The game is never over until the clock has zeroes on it.”

Defensive lineman Zach Allen pointed to last season when the Broncos lost several games in the waning seconds, they had expected to win.

“Last year, we were trying to find ways to lose close games, so, yeah, we’re improving in that aspect,’’ said Allen, who had one of Denver’s four sacks.

It helps that the Broncos are loaded on defense.

“I think we have the best defense in the league and I’m going to keep on saying that week in and week out,’’ said outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper, who also had a sack.

Statistically, the Broncos on Sunday held the Texans to 268 yards and no touchdowns while Houston’s vaunted defense allowed 271 yards and two touchdowns.

The Broncos made the key stops of the game. In the first half, the Texans on different drives had first-and-goal at the 1 and first-and-goal at the 2, and both times had to settle for Fairbairn field goals. That made it 6-0 when it could have been a lot worse for Denver.

“When you have a goal-line stand, when you have that on the 1-yard line, the emotional swing that creates for your team, that was significant,” said Broncos coach Sean Payton.

The Texans did lead 12-7 at halftime, but Payton entered the locker room with few worries.

“I don’t think there was a person in that locker room that felt like we were losing this game,’’ Payton said.

It sure helped the Broncos that the Texans lost Stroud when he was hit by Broncos cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine when he slid for a 6-yard run with 13:43 left in the first half. A flag was thrown, but it was picked up after a replay showed Abrams-Draine had hit Stroud in the shoulder, not in the head or next area.

“We knew Mills had a lot of experience, but how you rush him might be a little different than Stroud,’’ Payton said.

That’s a nice way of saying that Mills, a five-year veteran, was a big downgrade from Stroud. Mills completed 17 of 30 passes for a mere 137 yards. He was very ineffective late in the game when the Texans failed to convert on their last nine third-down conversions and 14 of their last 15 to finish 3 of 17 for the game.

While Stroud was a big loss for the Texans, the Broncos did enter the game without star cornerback Pat Surtain (strained pectoral) and receiver-returner Marvin Mims (concussion). Jahdae Barron started for Surtain but the Broncos rotated cornerbacks, including using Abrams-Draine for plenty of snaps.

“It’s just the next man up and standard doesn’t drop at all,’’ Cooper said.

With Mims out, Broncos receivers caught just eight of Nix’s 18 completions. Denver’s top target was Harvey, who caught five passes for 51 yards, with Payton saying, “It felt like it would be a game where RJ would have opportunities.”

Mims was replaced on punt returns by wide receiver Michael Bandy, who had four returns for 30 yards but had a muffed punt just before halftime. That led to a Fairbairn 40-yard field goal on the final play of the half.

The Broncos had a number of issues on special teams. Lutz had a 51-yard field-goal attempt blocked in the first quarter and Houston’s Jaylin Noel had a 45-yard punt return in the third quarter.

Denver’s running game was slow to get going. J.K. Dobbins, who came in as the NFL’s third-leading rusher with 634 yards, had just four carries for 24 yards but did finish with 15 attempts for 61 yards. Dobbins is from La Grange, Texas, 100 miles west of Houston, and had several dozen supporters on hand Sunday.

The Broncos on offense also had to withstand Nix being picked off in the second quarter by Calen Bullock, which led to Fairbairn’s second field goal.

“I think, a really good issue to have is when you’re finding these ugly wins,’’ Nix said of Denver’s uneven performance.

Nevertheless, it was still another comeback win for the battling Broncos.