HOUSTON – Courtland Sutton tried Sunday to define what it means about Bo Nix having “it.”

Against the Houston Texans, the Broncos quarterback had just the second game of his two-year career in which he completed less than 50% of his passes. But Nix battled throughout the game and led the Broncos to yet another comeback win, 18-15 at NRG Stadium.

“The guy has that ‘it’ to him,’’ Sutton, a Denver receiver, said after the game. “That thing where you hear it all the time, the ‘it.’ And everybody’s ‘it’ is something a little different but his ‘it’ is something special and he finds a way and he’s a gamer. The dude shows up and we know that when we have him back there that we have a chance of winning the game.”

Facing a Houston unit that came in ranked No. 1 in the NFL in both scoring and total defense, Nix completed just 18 of 37 passes for 173 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. His only other NFL game in which he completed less than 50% of his throws came in Week 4 last season, when he was 12 of 25 in driving rain in a 10-9 win at the New York Jets.

But Nix led the Broncos to a fourth-quarter comeback win for the fourth time in the past five games. Trailing 15-7, the Broncos tied the score 15-15 on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Nix to Harvey and a two-point conversion throw from Nix to Troy Franklin with 12:28 left in the game. Denver won on Wil Lutz’s 34-yard field goal on the final play.

“It’s like never feeling like you’re out of the fight,’’ Nix said of persevering during his uneven outing. “I’ve learned a different kind of patience as I’ve grown. … You just have to eventually learn as a quarterback how important that next play really is and if you can just get to it in a better situation than you were the play prior, then you did your job.”

Nix sure did his job on the winning drive. With the Broncos facing second-and-7 at their 39, he ran 25 yards around left end to move the ball into field-goal position at the Texans 36 with 35 seconds left.

“Just ended up being a good lane and finally was able to use my legs there at the end,’’ said Nix, who finished with three carries for 36 yards.

If you ask Sutton, Nix certainly had “it” on that play.

“He’s been showing he can be dominant with his legs,’’ Sutton said. “It’s fun to watch him get out on the edge and scoot around a little bit.”

Nix also had “it” when he threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Sutton late in the second quarter to put Denver up 7-6. And he had “it” with the touchdown pass to Harvey, who caught five balls for 51 yards.

Nix didn’t look to have “it” when he was picked off in the second quarter by Texans safety Calen Bullock. Or when he threw several incompletions, including missing wide-open tight end Evan Engram down the left side in the second quarter for what could have been a 30-yard touchdown pass.

But on the next play, Nix found Sutton in a similar spot for that touchdown.

“(I) probably threw it a little bit too early, let him set the angle a little bit more and then put it on him,’’ Nix said of the misfire to Engram. “The next one (to Sutton), we had a different coverage. … He ran a good route, got up the seam, and then it was all about giving him a good, adjustable football so he can go up and get it like he always does. You don’t hit them all, even though, like anybody else, I wish more than anybody I’d hit them all.”

Nix, though, said he has learned over the years to be better about shaking off bad plays. He pointed to having played in high school in Alabama and in college at Auburn and Oregon.

“In high school, I was not very patient,’’ Nix said. “It was like an every drive thing and if I got off the field and we had to punt, it was like the end of the world. In college, it was learning how to win certain battles and field position and just getting completions and checking it down and moving it the next play.”

After some setbacks, Nix was able to move on to the next play enough Sunday to help the Broncos get a hard-earned win. As far as Sutton was concerned, that meant he had “it.”