ON ONE hand, you have to admire Essendon coach Matthew Knights' determination to stick to his long-term plans to teach his players an attacking and positive approach to their football.

On the other, you have to wonder whether, at this rate, the Bombers are going to be too shell-shocked to actually absorb any information over the next couple of months.

Knights was emphasising the positives again last night after the Dons' latest thumping, 91 points this time at the hands of Sydney. There was a valuable lesson for young Darcy Daniher on dual Brownlow medallist Adam Goodes. Encouragement for Tom Hislop, David Myers and Kyle Reimers.

But as a collective, Essendon is a team mentally shot to ribbons. How else do you view a result in which one side is only two kicks from the lead midway through the third quarter, then concedes the last 13 goals of the game to lose by nearly 100 points?

The biggest tell-tale signs of the sapping of confidence are in the margins during five consecutive losses — 30 points against the Western Bulldogs, 36 to St Kilda, 73 against Collingwood and 64 against Port Adelaide, before yesterday's whipping. Essendon's percentage is a miserable 69.5, much lower than that of Fremantle, which has won one fewer game, and even lower than West Coast's.

Is Knights' oft-repeated intent to stay on the attack, despite the potential for shellackings like yesterday's, giving his charges a sub-conscious safety net that ultimately does them a disservice? Are the Essendon players going to be as wounded as they should by scores such as yesterday's if they know the reaction of their coaching staff won't be any more severe than were they on the wrong end of a three-goal defeat?

Thirteen unanswered goals provide an interesting contrast with the effort on Saturday night of a similarly youthful rival in Carlton.

The Blues might also have ended up with a near 100-point whipping against Brisbane Lions after being on the wrong end of an eight-goal first term. That they were able to stem the bleeding to an eventual 33-point loss at least gave coach Brett Ratten some straws at which to clutch. Essendon doesn't have any right now.

And if the waving of the white flag once defeat seems likely continues, it mightn't have any percentage at all come August, either.