The Denver Broncos went on the road to take on the Houston Texans and walked out with their sixth straight win. It was a tough, low-scoring, defensive battle, but the Broncos made just enough plays to win 18-15.

Houston’s C.J. Stroud sustained a concussion after hitting his head hard on the ground at the end of a run in the second quarter of Sunday’s 18-15 loss to Denver.

The Broncos proved again they are the NFL's best fourth-quarter team, the biggest reason to believe they can vie for a championship.

At the top of the second quarter, Stroud would go down with a concussion following a scramble, taken down by Broncos cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine, which would sideline Houston's star quarterback for the remainder of the contest, elevate Davis Mills for the rest of the day, and wound up coming up short 15-18.

Broncos head coach Sean Payton is feeling good about where Denver is through nine weeks of football in the 2025 NFL season.

NFL Week 9 odds, picks, predictions, TV channel, streaming information for the Sunday football game between the Denver Broncos and Houston Texans.

The Ringer's Bill Simmons questioned if DeMeco Ryans is a good coach after the Texans opted to be aggressive with Davis Mills at quarterback instead of playing for overtime.

Mills completed passes of 26 and 10 yards to Nico Collins, setting up another first-and-goal opportunity from the 2. Again the Denver D stiffened. A holding penalty on Houston helped and Jonathon Cooper finished off the defensive stand with a 12-yard sack of Mills.