Denver Broncos take on the Houston Texans

HOUSTON — Something seems off with the Broncos’ biorhythms.

Their game against the Houston Texans kicked off at 11 a.m. Rocky Mountain time. Before it was noon back home, the Broncos were down 13-0 two minutes into the second quarter. Denver put together a sustained drive for a short Wil Lutz field goal in the final minutes of the first half and went into the intermission seeking a wake-up call and trailing 13-3 before a large contingent of visiting Broncos fans here Sunday at roof-closed NRG Stadium.

With their bodies still on morning time, Broncos’ star receiver Courtland Sutton dropped a perfectly thrown deep ball by Russell Wilson, the Denver defense gave up three long pass plays to open receivers, star inside linebacker Alex Singleton picked up an unnecessary roughness penalty that turned a fourth down, false-start penalty against Houston into a first and goal at the 3.

And Riley Dixon had a punt partially blocked into a 22-yard shank.

The sleepwalking Broncos were down 10-0 to the Texans after the first quarter. A quarter that ended with Texans’ sensational rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud completing a 59-yard deep pass to a wide open – wide open — Nico Collins.

Remember how the Broncos started against the Dolphins and Bears? Those two games also had 11 a.m. Denver time kickoffs. Do we need to recall the Miami game? OK, to make a point, the Broncos were down 35-13 at halftime and lost 70-20.

Against the Bears, the Broncos were atrocious for 2 ½ quarters, falling behind 28-7, but then rallied for a 31-28 win.

So the Broncos have not yet lost this game against the Texans. But they need to wake up.

Still, perhaps head coach Sean Payton should look at making some adjustments to the 11 a.m. kickoffs. A first-half breakdown of those three early kickoffs”

Dolphins, 35-13 score; 344 to 228 total yards.

Bears, 21-7 score; 265 to 120 yards

Texans, 13-3 score; 259 to 103 yards

First-half totals: 69-20; 868-45

After his completion to Collins, Stroud was 6 of 10 for a whopping 153 yards with just two minutes into the second quarter. Houston’s lone touchdown came after the Singleton penalty, with running back Dameon Pierce ramming in from 3 yards out.

Houston also got two field goals from Matt Ammendola.

Wilson, meanwhile, was just 5 of 10 for 44 yards at the half. Sutton’s drop off the post didn’t help. Running back Javonte Williams was the leading rusher with 32 yards on seven carries and leading receiver with one catch for 15 yards.

Collins had 122 yards receiving off four catches at the half as the Broncos’ secondary had some busted coverages. There was a scare early as All Pro cornerback Pat Surtain seemed to get caught up in the turf and his legs planted awkwardly. Surtain was able to walk off on his own, though, and returned to the game.

Houston rookie receiver Trank Dell wasn’t so lucky. He suffered left ankle injury while getting rolled up on Pierce’s touchdown and had to be carted off the field.

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