The Denver Broncos sit at 4-2, which is worth cheering about when you look at the brutal stretch they opened with. Still, the story hanging over the team is its quarterback. Bo Nix, now in his third season, has struggled through the first six games, and his play has grabbed most of the attention. Now a Broncos legend is throwing down a challenge at him.

“My challenge goes to Bo Nix and the offense of the Denver Broncos,” Mark Schlereth said on The OG Football Show and The Wingo Network. “ I cannot find one thing, not one thing, that you guys do well on the offensive side of the ball. You can’t run it. You can’t throw it. You can’t protect. Your receivers don’t get open. I mean, the whole nine yards.

“But here’s what I’d like to challenge Bo Nix on: Step up in the pocket. Inspire your football team. Take a shot to the teeth. Don’t just bail out of the pocket. Don’t let your eyes drop to see where the rush is coming. Quit seeing ghosts and go out there and inspire your football team.”

This isn’t the first time Schlereth has gone after Nix. Before the Seattle game, he said Nix was “100 percent responsible” for the Week 4 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Many analysts believe that Nix is struggling through an uncharacteristic early-season slump due to a combination of a mental hurdle regarding his surgically repaired right ankle and an over-reliance on short check-down passes.

Then there is the number that has people talking. Zach Bye, who hosts The Drive on Denver Sports Station 1043 The Fan, pointed out that Sean Payton’s 2026 offense is actually doing worse than the 2022 unit Payton himself called “one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.”

That sounds too wild to be true, but the math checks out when you compare the 2022 Broncos’ 17 games against this year’s six.

The 2022 offense piled up 5,527 yards, or 325.1 yards per game, which ranked 21st in the league. This year’s group has 1,513 yards through six games, about 252.16 per game, good for 31st.

It goes beyond yardage. Denver is 28th in passing yards per game and 26th in both rushing yards and points per game. On third down, they convert just 31.6% of the time, which lands them 30th. According to reporter Matt Sullivan, in terms of scoring, this year’s team has put up 114 points, or 19 per game, while the 2022 team managed 287 points, or 16.8 per game.

So the scoring gap is smaller, but the overall picture is still rough for Payton.

Part of the explanation may be Nix’s recovery. He fractured his ankle in the 33-30 overtime win over the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs last season, and it took two surgeries to fix. Both he and the team insist the ankle is fine, but that doesn’t mean he’s fully recovered mentally.

With all the chatter about his health, Nix has owned the struggles and sounds set on improving.

“I have to play better,’’ Nix, the Broncos’ third-year starter, said Wednesday. “We have to play better. The offense has to play better. (Payton is) going to take his [blame], and that’s what great leaders do.

“I feel like I can overcome some of the stuff that is putting us in a bad spot, and I feel like I can play better. I’ve looked at my preparation. I’ve looked at my process, and I’ve tried to see anything that can be moved around or be changed so that I can overcome and just figure out ways to put us in a better spot.”

Denver may be 4-2, but unless Nix and the offense find a spark soon, that record could start to slip away. In Week 7, they are going to play the Cardinals (2-4) on Sunday, October 25.