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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The scale of the Ravens’ loss Sunday, seismic and far-reaching, defies conventional measurements. It could be quantified in grand terms: hundreds of millions of dollars, thousands of total yards, years of league honors. It could be defined by smaller moments: the eerie locker room silence stirred by an injured right hamstring, or the monotone promises, one after another, that a fix is coming.

More than anything, the scale of the Ravens’ 37-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs could be described as something approaching the beginning of the end. Few losses in the franchise’s recent era have felt so thoroughly devastating, the depths of their on-field woes surpassed by the aftershocks of their injury toll.

The Ravens didn’t just lose Sunday. They lost the foundation of their fading Super Bowl hopes for an untold period. Quarterback Lamar Jackson left the blowout-in-progress late in the third quarter, sitting on the bench with his hamstring wrapped, the provenance of his injury unclear. Who knows when he’ll come back? And who knows what the Ravens, already battered and beaten, will look like when he does?

“I don’t have any updates on the seriousness of injuries right now,” coach John Harbaugh said after the Ravens dropped to 1-3 for the first time since 2015, an injury-depleted year that ended 5-11. “There’s nothing that looks like it’s season-ending, by any stretch, for anybody. But we’ll have to look at those injuries tomorrow and see where we’re at going forward.”

There are a lot of injuries. So many injuries. None more important than Jackson’s, though. The Ravens need only look back a few years to see how quickly things can fall apart without their offensive talisman.

In 2021, the Ravens entered Week 14 with an 8-4 record. Then they lost Jackson to an ankle injury and, soon after, much of their defense to an injury-and-illness apocalypse. They ended the year 8-9, out of the postseason field for the first and only time in Jackson’s career. A year later, the Ravens entered Week 13 with a 7-4 record. Then they lost Jackson to a knee injury, dropped three of their next five games and were eliminated in the wild-card round of the playoffs.

These Ravens cannot afford to lose any ground. But it could get worse before it gets better for one of the NFL’s most disappointing teams. The 22 starters who take the field next Sunday against the Houston Texans will have only a passing resemblance to the Ravens’ Week 1 lineup, a collection of well-paid stars and up-and-comers and wily veterans that looked downright formidable, if not the league’s deepest.

The Ravens headed to Arrowhead Stadium having already lost Pro Bowl defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike ($24.5 million average annual contract value) and Pro Bowl fullback Patrick Ricard to neck and calf injuries, respectively, of unknown severity. They kicked off Sunday without a pair of nicked-up defensive starters, lineman Travis Jones and Pro Bowl outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy.

Then came an onslaught of injuries. Pro Bowl left tackle Ronnie Stanley ($20 million AAV) lasted just two offensive drives. Pro Bowl cornerback Marlon Humphrey ($19.5 million) left in the second quarter. So did Pro Bowl inside linebacker Roquan Smith ($20 million). Jackson, a two-time NFL Most Valuable Player with a five-year, $260 million deal and over 27,000 career yards of total offense, didn’t return after a third-quarter sack. Starting cornerback Nate Wiggins was carted off in the fourth quarter.

“The injury bug is real right now for us,” running back Derrick Henry said. “Hopefully, guys can get healthy and get back out there. I never want to see guys go down, but it just means other guys have to step up.”

If only it were that simple. The Ravens’ offense, held to 360 yards Sunday, was inconsistent in its execution and perplexing in its design when Jackson and Stanley were healthy. Now the reins could be turned over to backup Cooper Rush, a journeyman 31-year-old with middling arm strength and none of Jackson’s improvisational ability. If Jackson’s gravitational pull disappears, what will the holes for Henry look like? What downfield opportunities will Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman and the Ravens’ receiving corps have? How much harder will third-and-longs be for the offensive line and coordinator Todd Monken?

The outlook is no less grim on defense. The Ravens’ pass rush was punchless before Sunday’s injuries. Their run defense was among the NFL’s worst. Their coverage was inconsistent. Now they could be without their defensive signal-caller (Smith) and their two best corners in man coverage (Humphrey and Wiggins).

Sunday’s preview of coming attractions was bleak. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, after three weeks of caretaker duty in a limited Kansas City (2-2) offense, finished 25-for-37 for 270 yards and four touchdowns, outdueling Jackson again as he improved to 6-1 against the Ravens. Mahomes was largely impervious to pressure, and to personnel surprises. If seeing rookie cornerback Keyon Martin play 37 defensive snaps or practice squad defensive lineman Josh Tupou get 28 snaps or reserve inside linebacker Jake Hummel on the field for 26 snaps took Mahomes aback at all, he didn’t play like it.

“It’s tough,” said John Jenkins, who led all Ravens defensive linemen with 44 defensive snaps after getting 64 through the first three weeks. “We’re playing chess, not checkers. A lot of the guys are still figuring it out. We’re young, and there’s a lot of responsibility for a young guy, for a high-caliber team and a high-caliber organization. This is a high-caliber organization; all they know is winning. So there is a standard that was made, and these guys are trying to fulfill the standards, and they’re putting in the work. I commend them. These guys are really putting in the work, and it just sucks that we just took this loss tonight.”

There were no easy explanations for the Ravens’ awful end to an ominous September. According to ESPN, only 11% of teams that have started 1-3 in the Super Bowl era have gone on to make the playoffs.

Said center Tyler Linderbaum: “We got beat. We got beat today. We got beat in all three phases.”

And outside linebacker Tavius Robinson: “It, obviously, sucks when your guys go down, but again, people have to step up, and we just have to play better.”

And running back Justice Hill: “We have a long season. This is Week 4. When we’re in Week 17, nobody’s going to remember Week 3 and 4, so we’re just going to continue to work, stack some wins and keep moving forward.”

They will be marching into stiff headwinds. Fans are already calling for changes to the Ravens’ coaching staff. The team’s injury list seems to grow with every week. Next on the Ravens’ schedule are the Houston Texans, whose uber-talented defense blanked the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, and the NFC West-leading Los Angeles Rams, who just knocked off the unbeaten Indianapolis Colts and have the talent and scheme to probe the Ravens’ pressure points.

The Ravens will need some kind of salvation before their Week 7 bye. Maybe Jackson’s hamstring injury needs only a few days of rest and recovery. Maybe defensive coordinator Zach Orr can swing another in-season turnaround. Maybe the friendly confines of M&T Bank Stadium will be enough these next two Sundays. Maybe everything is not as bad as it seems.

Or maybe Week 4 will indeed be remembered, for all the wrong reasons. “Something is wrong,” safety Kyle Hamilton said, “so it’s up to all of us to try and fix that.”

That will take a full-team effort. That will take time. But the Ravens don’t have the team they envisioned or the quarterback they need to lead it. And they may already be running out of time. Some things are beyond fixing. The Ravens aren’t there yet. But week after disappointing week, they move a little closer to the brink.