Punters will tell you it was a predictable result.
The worst fourth quarter team in the competition were never a chance to protect an 18-point lead against the game's best-drilled side at the close finish - especially with Collingwood coming off an ultra-rare tight loss against Fremantle.
But after kicking just 12 goals across the previous seven quarters, even the typically unflappable Craig McRae looked flustered as he considered his messaging and coaching moves at the last change.
Much has been made of Collingwood's ability to get you in different ways; but it counts for nothing if you don't put it on the scoreboard.
In the first three quarters, and particularly before halftime, they took the uncontested marking route to pick their way through the Carlton defence, yet barely made a dent on the scoreboard.
In the words of McRae, Collingwood's impotency in the front half was real.
Then suddenly in the last quarter, they released an avalanche more aligned with the Collingwood that the footy industry is accustomed.
“I was really proud of the last quarter. It's the first time our fans and players have been in-sync in terms of energy…to kick 7.1 and look excited after major parts of the night was a challenge made me proud of the last quarter,” McRae said.
“We've taken a step forward looking more like us.”
It will go down in the annals as another storied Collingwood comeback.
Ugly as it might have been early, it was building towards a more obvious finish than a children's fairytale.
Positively for McRae was the players who lifted when the game was there to be won.
Yes, Daicos put on his superman cape, but around him, it was players less rehearsed in tight games on the big stage.
“Oscar Steene was really exciting. You see his energy and confidence and a guy grow right in front of you, jumping, tackling and take a big strong contested mark in the goal square,” McRae said.
“Will Hayes looked electric in the last quarter and Angus Anderson, just wanting to win.”
Steene's last quarter cannot be understated.
He jumped with confidence in the ruck, three times sending it directly down Nick Daicos' throat, all of which resulted in Collingwood centre clearances.
He also kicked a goal and made some important aerial contests.
Anderson won a crucial one-on-two contest in the middle of the ground with cleanness and tenacity which directly resulted in a Pies goal.
Hayes, who has previously lacked poise at the level, found his feet on the biggest stage. He may have had only six touches, but the small forward kicked a goal and looked clean.
Patrick Lipinski's finish, too, was important, with a goal and several important moments defensively helping the Pies hold on to the lead they got early in the last quarter following a quiet start to 2026.
Jamie Elliott was another that appeared to have rediscovered form - it only required a high stakes last quarter to get him back towards his career-best form of last season.
Positive though that may have been, it is impossible to deny that the best teams in the competition would have opened up an insurmountable lead on Collingwood by three-quarter-time.
Still, they have not passed 100 points since Round 17 last year.
Take the green shoots, salivate in the Daicos masterclass, but after looking a step off Brisbane and struggling to score for seven of the last eight quarters, acknowledge the tough road ahead.
By taking eight marks inside 50 in the first half of the first quarter, they seemed to take a step forward with their decision-making and connection going inside 50.
“I don't want to get caught up in the narrative we have to score 100 points to win but I'd like to think our game is evolving,” McRae said.
“I'd rather be winning and evolving than losing and evolving. I thought last week we took a huge step forward in our recognisable traits and tonight we took another step forward when the game was there to be won, we pulled some levers that were exciting for our fans.”
With Hawthorn, Geelong and Sydney after an Anzac Day clash with Essendon, they will need to find a way to do it for much longer if they're to keep themselves in top six contention.
“We spoke about playing the full minutes. They've been in front most games but we were questioning whether they could do it for four quarters (because) that's the evidence they put in front of everyone,” McRae said.
So where does it leave the Blues, then, if opponents are openly highlighting their last quarter woes?
Coach Michael Voss believed there was progress with how they handled the last quarter - and it's hard to argue, given they were a straight kick after the siren away from tying with the close finishing benchmark.
But pressure will be at fever-pitch for another week and it's hard to see them beating Fremantle if they repeat the abysmal skill execution on display on Thursday.
The club believes it should around the mark for finals, and the Blues' age profile backs up that sentiment.
Despite a 1-5 record, given they have been in every game so far bar the Gather Round loss to Adelaide, that feeling of being thereabouts
But it counts for nothing if they continue to falter out of games.
“The game was fairly simple in the end. We had moments at the start of the third quarter, came out really strong, didn't take all our moments,” Voss said.
“They had moments in the same period of time at the start of the fourth and finished. Sometimes it can be as simple as that, you can have good process and method but they took their small moments and we didn't take ours.”
