A loss in Cleveland already hurt. The Ravens’ looming gauntlet could prolong the pain.

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CLEVELAND — Kyle Hamilton did not know who was next. The Ravens safety only knew what had just happened. And what’d happened felt like déjà vu.

A double-digit lead. A fourth-quarter collapse. Browns 13, Ravens 10.

Sunday’s loss at Huntington Bank Field had all the hallmarks of a vintage Ravens loss. It was not. This was more significant. Because of where they were. Because of who is next.

Before the Ravens traveled to Cleveland (4-2) for their AFC North opener, coach Jesse Minter had reminded them of the game’s stakes. “Every win you get is a plus-one,” right tackle Roger Rosengarten recalled Minter saying. But a division game, Rosengarten said Wednesday, is “plus-one-and-a-half.”

And now, as the Ravens (4-2) return to Baltimore for their toughest stretch of the season with star quarterback Lamar Jackson’s availability still uncertain, they may not be far from doubling that divisional tax. Next up on their schedule: the Cincinnati Bengals (3-2), who will arrive at M&T Bank Stadium next Sunday with maybe their most well-rounded team since their 2021 Super Bowl run and a week of rest after an early bye.

Week 6 was supposed to be a launching pad for the middle third of the Ravens’ season. After Baltimore blew its NFL-worst 17th double-digit lead since 2018, Hamilton confessed his ignorance of what games lay ahead. He was probably better off not knowing. The pain of a game he said the Ravens “definitely should’ve won” was enough.

“We know how important divisional games are,” left tackle Ronnie Stanley said. “Especially playing in [Cleveland’s] stadium — this would’ve been a great win to have under our belt. It didn’t happen, but everything we want is still in front of us and we have all the opportunity in the world to get what we still want.”

Even a win here would have left the Ravens’ credentials lacking. They entered Week 6 having faced, according to FTN, the NFL’s softest schedule. Their four wins are over the teams ranked 18th (Atlanta Falcons), 20th (Dallas Cowboys), 21st (Indianapolis Colts) and 31st (Tennessee Titans) in overall efficiency. Their two losses are to the NFL’s third-worst (New Orleans Saints) and seventh-worst teams (Cleveland), according to FTN.

It’s an incomplete résumé befitting an incomplete team. Not since Week 1 have the Ravens played a complete game, their offense, defense and special teams moving in harmony. On Sunday, Minter’s defense showed up for 3 1/2 quarters. Declan Doyle’s Jackson-less offense showed up for just the first. Anthony Levine Sr.’s special teams were hit or miss.

“That’s a type of game where, I think, all three phases, you have chances to create more separation in the game with where the score was at,” Minter said. “We weren’t able to do that, really, from our own self-inflicted things.”

The margin for error in the AFC North, where the Ravens, Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2) now sit a half-game ahead of the Bengals, has almost always been marginal. That was the case again Sunday. Momentum alone wasn’t enough to sustain the Ravens’ three-game winning streak.

The Tyler Huntley-led offense scored 10 points over its first two drives, repeating the success of a full-speed-ahead finish in last Sunday’s overtime win over the Falcons. The Ravens were held scoreless over the final 49-plus minutes. Huntley (19-for-31 for 165 yards and a touchdown) had just 58 passing yards after halftime.

Kicker Tyler Loop entered the third quarter having made four straight kicks, including two from 50-plus yards in Atlanta. He missed a 49-yarder early in the fourth quarter that would’ve pushed the Ravens’ lead to 13-3. They never again advanced into field goal range.

Running back Derrick Henry (17 carries for 58 yards) hadn’t fumbled all season. His turnover early in the fourth quarter handed the Browns a short field on their way to a 35-yard touchdown drive that tied the game at 10.

The Ravens’ pass defense hadn’t allowed a completion of longer than 17 yards over the game’s first 59 minutes. Quarterback Deshaun Watson, harassed (five sacks) and inefficient (16-for-26 for 164 yards) all afternoon, found wide receiver Jerry Jeudy wide open 18 yards downfield on an in-breaker with 42 seconds remaining. His 33-yard catch-and-run set up Cleveland kicker Andre Szmyt for a 37-yard game-winner as time expired.

“It’s tough, man,” cornerback Marlon Humphrey said. “I think we feel that we are better, we feel that we’re equipped, we feel that we’re ready for these moments. We just got to consistently do it. We got to consistently believe that you trust the guy next to you. I think it all starts with communication. Someone has to end the game for us.”

The Ravens couldn’t do it against New Orleans in Week 2, when they had Jackson healthy and a home crowd at their back. They couldn’t do it against Cleveland on Sunday, despite season lows in points and yards allowed (237).

Atonement will have to wait for the Ravens’ gauntlet. Five of their next six opponents — the Bengals, Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans — entered Sunday as a top-11 team overall, according to FTN. Cincinnati, Buffalo and Jacksonville all have top-eight Super Bowl odds.

So do the Ravens, of course. But postseason dreams can seem fanciful on a day like Sunday, when Jackson (ankle) misses a second straight start, Henry fumbles in the fourth quarter, the defense cracks late and a loss to the woebegone Browns stings just a bit more.

Because of where they were. Because of who is next.

“We’re fighting for that spot at the top” of the AFC North, said outside linebacker Trey Hendrickson, a veteran of these divisional battles from his days in Cincinnati. “We have to focus on the next — that becomes the next and most important game. Learn from these mistakes. Don’t just flush it.”