The Magpies' prospects of a finals double-chance have been severely damaged once again by their inability to put away teams beneath them on the ladder.
On Saturday, it was Essendon's turn to torment Collingwood with a 48-point victory at the MCG - 19.14 (128) to 11.14 (80) - in a contest the Bombers effectively controlled throughout.
The fifth-placed Magpies' precious wins over top-four sides Geelong and Sydney have been more than cancelled out by losses to eighth-placed North Melbourne (twice), 11th-placed Carlton (twice) and now the Bombers (12th), whom the Pies' thumped by 73 points on Anzac Day.
Collingwood remains six points shy of the Swans (4th) who have a game in hand, and faces the prospect of slipping a game behind the two teams beneath it on the ladder, St Kilda and the Brisbane Lions, before the round is through.
David Hille was by far the most effective player on the ground and paved the way at the stoppages for the likes of Jobe Watson to gather a career-high 41 disposals, and Ricky Dyson 26.
Shadowing, at various times, Scott Pendlebury, Alan Didak and Dale Thomas, Andrew Welsh beat the lot while racking up 29 touches and four goals.
Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse lamented after the last-start loss to North that he didn't have a single winner on the night. It was no different today.
Dane Swan battled hard for his 26 touches, but his influence was negligible.
The Bombers launched themselves into the contest as if fired from a cannon and their high-intensity, hard-running, high-pressure game left the Magpies floundering.
Essendon racked-up 70 first-quarter kicks to the Pies' 40, 54 handballs to 26 - that's 124 possessions to 66 - on top of 50 marks to 21, and 17 inside-50s to 11.
Those numbers translated to a 28-point lead at the first change which was a fair reflection of their domination.
Welsh had one of those dream runs that occur maybe once in a career, slotting three goals inside the first 10 minutes and finishing with 11 touches for the quarter.
Sparked by a fearsome spray from Mick Malthouse at quarter-time, Collingwood responded with a four-goal run in the second term to cut the margin to two points.
Too quick and strong for Paddy Ryder, Travis Cloke, who had three goals to half-time, was crucial to the Pies' recovery.
When Didak goaled on the run just 15 seconds into the third quarter, it seemed the foundation was being laid for a big second half from the Pies, but the Bombers were far from done with.
In a 13-minute burst, they slammed through five goals without reply to Angus Monfries, Matthew Lloyd, Leroy Jetta, Nathan Lovett-Murray and Rising Star nominee, the exciting Kyle Reimers.
Late goals to John Anthony and Leon Davis cut the Bombers' 33-point break, the best of the match to that point, to 21 at the final change.
After Paul Medhurst scored Collingwood's opener in the final term, the result was put to bed by a brace from Reimers and follow-up majors to Adam McPhee and Welsh, and everything after that was just for show for the much-improved Bombers.
ESSENDON: 5.7, 7.10, 12.11, 19.14 (128)
COLLINGWOOD: 1.3, 6.7, 9.10, 11.14 (80)
GOALS: Essendon: Welsh 4, Lloyd 4, Reimers 3, Monfries 2, McPhee 2, Stanton, Jetta, Lovett-Murray, Hille
Collingwood: Cloke 3, Didak 2, Davis 2, Anthony 2, Medhurst 2
BEST: Essendon: Hille, Welsh, Watson, Lonergan,