St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said his side was looking for an "easy game of AFL" after they were humbled by a rampant Essendon to the tune of 33-points at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.
The Saints failed to show up and dished up a frightfully poor display, especially considering their top four hopes are now well and truly on the line with just a draw to show from their past three outings.
The 14th-placed Bombers did as they liked in the first half, piling on seven goals to one in the first term alone to stun St Kilda, sitting 11 places higher in third going into the clash.
Lyon questioned his side's endeavour and their adherence to some of St Kilda's key philosophies after their third straight defeat to Essendon.
"There's not one aspect of the game I feel positive about," Lyon said.
"There were two aspects, they were really good and I just thought we looked for an easy game of AFL football and they don't exist."
"In the context of what was at stake and how many games there are left it was pretty hard to swallow."
The Saints were outscored nine goals to three in the opening half despite having two more forward-50 entries (24-22) and continued to show their impotence in attack with six more for the game (52-45).
Lyon admitted it wasn't time for panic but pointed to a number of key areas that needed improvement if the Saints are to challenge in the business end of finals.
"Top four means nothing when you dish that up, so we need to fix our attack, fix our defence and our competitive spirit, something we've prided ourselves on for so long, it comes as a bit of a shock when you've been so consistent for so long."
"Our care and helping each other cover the colour was pretty poor...they looked like a top four team and we looked like a team in 14th to be frank."
"It's not a crisis...but it was disappointing collectively as coaches and players...we're (the coaches) in it up to our necks with the players."
Lyon acknowledged his side's impotence in attack, with Nick Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke managing just the three goals between them, but said there were a host of reasons, namely Essendon's attacking flow, that contributed to the loss.
"Clearly (Brent) Stanton got off the chain, (Dustin) Fletcher got off the chain...they took seven contested marks forward, there were lots of things…"
"In all phases we were poor… our contesting… they took it forward and scored and in attack, we were impotent."
"It wasn't all the defenders, our midfielders didn't come to work either."
The Saints now have a nine-day break ahead of next Sunday's clash with Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium, and with that in mind, could do with some much needed soul searching after losing touch with the top two (Collingwood/Geelong) and slipping back to the pack as the weeks wear on.