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Three weeks ago, the Ravens’ trip to Arrowhead Stadium loomed in the middle distance like a beacon, heralding the clash of two Super Bowl contenders.

Then the season started.

Now there’s a slightly different framing to Sunday’s showdown with the Chiefs. Kansas City, off to a 1-2 start, is not just fighting to climb back up the AFC West standings but also to make its offense less dull. The Ravens, meanwhile, are dealing with their own 1-2 start — and the outcry over the downturn of a once-promising defense.

“I feel like, sometimes, Ravens fans can be a little bit spoiled, with just the amount of success that this franchise has had,” safety Kyle Hamilton said Thursday. “We lose five games [in 2024], and the world is about to end.”

This early in the season, things can always get better. But they can always get worse, too. As Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes prepare to meet for the seventh time as starting quarterbacks, including the playoffs, here’s what to watch in the teams’ Week 4 matchup.

1. The Ravens signed running back Derrick Henry last year to help lighten Jackson’s load as a runner. But Jackson might find himself as the ground game’s leading man again Sunday.

Over his six starts against Kansas City, he has finished as the Ravens’ top rusher five times. He’s never finished with fewer than 46 rushing yards, and his series-high 122 yards in the Ravens’ narrow season-opening loss last season added to a gaudy career-long stat line: 479 rushing yards (6.7 per carry), three touchdowns and 25 first downs on 71 carries.

In 2021, when Jackson earned his lone win over the Chiefs, he did most of his damage on designed runs (15 for 87 yards). Last season, with Henry limited in his Ravens debut (13 carries for 46 yards), Jackson helped power the Ravens’ rally with his scrambles (nine for 70 yards).

“That’s a weapon that he has in his arsenal, so when it breaks down, he can take off, and that gets on your rushing yards,” said offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who indicated Thursday that he expected Kansas City’s defense to “spy” Jackson as the Detroit Lions did Monday. Jackson finished with three scrambles for 19 yards in the loss and was sacked a career-high-tying seven times.

“The longer the play develops and the more the quarterback ends up stepping up, that scheme prevents you from the quarterback being able to run. But the advantage of that for us is, if they’re not rushing, it’s one less rusher, and if they’re not in coverage, it’s one less cover guy. So there’s give and take to every coverage and every scheme, and they made a couple plays on it, but the Chiefs have done that as well.”

2. The Chiefs’ defense last season was one of the NFL’s worst at defending tight ends. If Isaiah Likely is cleared to make his season debut Sunday — Monken said he hopes to have him available — the Ravens could stress them again.

In a Week 1 win over Kansas City, Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert peppered the middle of the field, completing eight of nine attempts there between five and 15 air yards for 103 passing yards and a touchdown, according to Sports Info Solutions.

Kansas City has been stouter the past two weeks, but perhaps an improvement was inevitable. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson are both reluctant to throw between the numbers, trends that continued against the Chiefs in Week 2 and Week 3, respectively.

Jackson, of course, is happy to look for answers there. And to look for his tight ends. Mark Andrews had a breakout game Monday against the Lions, leading the Ravens with six catches for 91 yards and two scores, while Charlie Kolar added two catches for 22 yards. Likely, who missed most of training camp to recover from foot surgery, had a team-high nine catches for 111 yards and a touchdown — and nearly another — in the loss to Kansas City last season.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh was coy about his potential availability Wednesday. Likely has yet to practice fully since returning to action two weeks ago.

“He could have a huge role,” Harbaugh said Wednesday. “He could be out there every snap, or he might not be. It’s hard to say, but he’s out there practicing. In all seriousness, he’s out there practicing. He looks good, he had a good day, but we weren’t at full speed today. So we’ll see how he does tomorrow [Thursday] when we get up to speed, and I’m looking forward to that.”

3. The scouting report on Mahomes this year has one of the NFL’s stranger paradoxes: Defenses should prepare for him to get rid of the ball quickly. They should also prepare for him to extend plays with his legs.

Mahomes entered Week 4 with the league’s quickest average time to throw: 2.51 seconds, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, notably faster than his 2024 mark (2.81 seconds, 23rd in the NFL). Mahomes also entered Week 4 with the league’s highest scramble rate among regular starters: 11.9%, more than double his 2024 mark (5.7%).

Mahomes is still finding out how much he can trust the young left side of Kansas City’s offensive line. Rookie Josh Simmons, a first-round pick whom the Ravens looked into, starts at left tackle, and Kingsley Suamataia, a converted tackle, starts at left guard. Mahomes scrambled six times against the Chargers, seven times against the Eagles and twice against the Giants.

Mahomes leads the Chiefs in rushing yards (125) and touchdowns (two), often buying time and space in the backfield — and sometimes in the open field — with pump fakes. He’s a different kind of test than Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who hurt the Ravens when he got outside the pocket in Week 1.

“Just try to hit him right here,” outside linebacker Odafe Oweh said Wednesday, pointing to his midsection. Mahomes is “going to try to pump-fake you, savvy stuff, so stick to your technique. … Don’t patter your feet, because that’s when he’s going to try to dance with you. So just beeline [to] him.”

4. Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy is expected to return from a Week 1 shoulder injury, and perhaps just in time for Kansas City.

Worthy, a first-round pick in 2024, had two touchdowns against the Ravens last season, scoring on a 21-yard end around and a 35-yard pass after a Ravens coverage bust. While the speedy Worthy had a somewhat disappointing rookie season (59 catches for 638 yards and six touchdowns), the Chiefs’ methodical offense could use his open-field dynamism while leading wide receiver Rashee Rice is sidelined during a six-game NFL suspension.

Only one Kansas City wide receiver, JuJu Smith-Schuster (6.3 yards), is averaging more than 3.1 yards after the catch this season, a drag on a passing offense that typically looks for short and intermediate throws. Worthy averaged 6.9 yards after the catch as a rookie, featured often on screens, shallow crossers and other quick-hitting routes.

His presence would help take pressure off wide receiver Tyquan Thornton, a surprise standout as a deep threat who’s tied with former Raven Marquise “Hollywood” Brown for the team lead in receiving yards (171). The Ravens’ pass defense, which has allowed just two completions of at least 20 air yards over the past two games, will have to be wary of Worthy and Thornton downfield.

“I always have to keep an eye on a guy like that,” Hamilton said. “He’s super speedy, and I think Thornton showed up for them, too, in the past few weeks, and it seems like their coaches do a great job of just getting those guys prepared, and those guys do a good job. … But it’s up to us to kind of game-plan for everybody and have a plan for everything going into it, which I think we will.”

5. Every Ravens-Chiefs game since Jackson’s arrival has unfolded the same way: Kansas City starts fast — or at least faster — and the Ravens try to climb back.

In their six meetings, the Chiefs have averaged 6.8 first-quarter points per game and 19.7 first-half points. The Ravens have entered halftime trailing by a field goal or less just once — last season.

That script could change this year. Kansas City’s offense has needed a longer runway for takeoff. The Chiefs are averaging just one first-quarter point per game (30th in the NFL) and 8.3 first-half points per game (25th). The Ravens, meanwhile, are averaging 4.3 points over the first 15 minutes (tied for 16th) and 14.7 points by halftime (tied for eighth).

“We’ve got to lock in,” Jackson said. “I feel like the last three games [this season], even with the win versus Cleveland, we started off slow. We’ve just got to play how we play ball and play Ravens football.”