Sydney have held on for a thrilling two-point victory over Essendon as legendary forward Lance Franklin suffered a potential career-ending calf injury.
The Swans kept their finals hope alive and put a major dent in the Bombers' own top-eight aspirations by securing a third straight win at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.
Sydney led by as much as 37 points early in the third quarter before the Bombers' midfield and inside-50 dominance finally started to impact the scoreboard.
Essendon cut the lead to just two points with five minutes left but electric forward Tom Papley stepped up to bomb the Swans' only goal of the final quarter from 60m out.
Jye Menzie goaled back for the Bombers, but it was too late as the ball went back to the middle with six seconds to go and the Swans prevailed 15.11 (101) to 15.9 (99).
Sydney could finish the round as high as 10th on the ladder after their finals hopes appeared shot only a month ago.
But the iconic career of Franklin hangs in the balance after he was subbed out of the match midway through the second quarter due to calf "tightness" and replaced by midfielder Ryan Clarke.
The 36-year-old cut a dejected figure sitting on the bench and was walking with a noticeable limp when he joined his teammates at the three-quarter-time huddle.
It was Sydney's final game in Melbourne during the home-and-away season and they will not return this year unless the Swans charge into the finals.
Franklin is expected to retire at season's end, but this week the 36-year-old had reportedly been contemplating playing on next year for a 20th AFL campaign.
Sydney have four matches to come in the home-and-away season, starting with next week's clash with in-form rivals GWS.
"Really tough to win a game of AFL footy at any time, and we played good footy in spurts, but we weren't consistent enough across the whole game," Swans coach John Longmire said.
"But we got the win and that's always a good thing."
Sydney will also sweat on the fitness of co-captain Dane Rampe, who spent the last 20 minutes of the match on the bench with calf tightness.
Franklin has kicked 1066 goals in his career - the fourth most in VFL/AFL history - and is a lock to be inducted as a legend in the Australian Football Hall of Fame after he retires.
But the future looks bright for the Swans post-Franklin with tall forward Joel Amartey stepping up with four goals in the first half as Sydney skipped away to a 19-point lead at the main break.
Essendon forward Kyle Langford continued his brilliant season by nailing a career-best six goals but it will come as little consolation to the Bombers who won the inside-50s 69-47 and their finals hopes could be over.
"This season has been a funny one because when you've got your personnel...you probably play Sydney six or eight weeks ago and it looks a bit different," Bombers coach Brad Scott said.
"But we told ourselves that that we want to be more system over personnel but we played a good side tonight."
