But following their 49-point win over the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night, the Bombers are now set to return to the finals as one of the form sides of the competition, having won five from their past seven matches.
Midfielder David Zaharakis believes the remarkable turnaround can be traced all the way back to the level-headed approach of the club's coaching staff, as they orchestrated a memorable four-point win over the previously unbeaten Cats in round 15.
Leading up to that all-important victory, Zaharakis told essendonfc.com.au the club had learnt many valuable lessons from those five demoralising losses.
""The coaches are all just about learning, evolving and improving,"" he said.
""Over those five weeks it was all about teaching us to go back to the way we were playing at the start of the year.
""The coaches were never too up when we won and they were never too down when we lost.
""To have that big game against Geelong, it sort of carried on along from there.""
Celebrating his 50th match in the win against the Bulldogs, Zaharakis said his side was perfectly aware of the importance of this victory in the context of their season.
""We probably needed to get over the line. It was a ebb and flow game where it was probably too open for us,"" he said.
""But the way we wanted to play was not that 'up one end and down the other' style of game because you never know what is going to happen when a side scores at will.
""We didn't want it that open, but we got the win which is what we are after.""
The 'openness' of the match saw the Bulldogs claw their way back into the contest, turning a 55-point Bomber lead early in the third term to just a four goal deficit.
However, after the Bulldogs continued to waste opportunities in their forward half, crucial late goals to Angus Monfries and Ben Howlett arrested their momentum and handed the initiative back to the Bombers.
""We didn't have that contested-style footy and the game was too open,"" Zaharakis said of the third quarter performance.
""Around the 20-minute mark of the term we were able to shut the Bulldogs out of it and we were able to get a couple of more goals on that scoreboard to get that five-six goal lead at the quarter.""
With Essendon moving closer to cementing a position in the top eight and with clashes against West Coast and Port Adelaide to come, the Bombers' firepower up forward is proving dangerous.
Against the Bulldogs, the Bombers had 13 individual goalkickers with the combination of Michael Hurley and Alwyn Davey finishing with eight goals between them.
""The whole team contributed tonight. We have a lot of firepower up forward. It's good that any week anyone can kick goals for us,"" he said.
Saturday's clash against the Eagles at Patersons Stadium looms as a difficult encounter for Zaharakis and his teammates, with Essendon's last win against John Worsfold's men in the west coming way back in round 21, 2001.
""We took care of the Western Bulldogs, now it is onto West Coast next week and trying to rectify our away record and get a win on the road,"" Zaharakis said.
