When an empire falls, the blame game usually follows. After winning five All-Irelands in a row under Jim Gavin, many questioned if Dublin would falter under Dessie Farrell. Instead, in the winter-Covid Championship, the Dubs won their most comfortable All-Ireland to date. Just a few months later though, and the questions were back. This time, Dublin did not answer them, and a shocking second half (and extra-time) performance against Mayo on Saturday meant they finally surrendered their title at the sixth time of asking.
So what went wrong for Dublin? Many will point to player turnover. With generational talents stepping away gradually over the last number of years, it's only natural there would be a drop off. For some players stepping away though, questions remain.
Stephen Cluxton is 39, so him retiring can't be a surprise, but the confusion around his departure was certainly unusual. Jack McCaffrey is in his second year out of the team, while Paul Mannion was also unavailable this year. They are 27 and 28 respectively. Also 27 is Eric Lowdnes, who left the panel in July, during the Championship. A seven time All-Ireland winner, Lowdnes' experience would have likely been crucial to Dublin from the bench this year.
Lowdnes is reported to have taken a teaching job in Dubai, while Mannion and McCaffrey have also made their reasons known, each eager to avoid a controversy.
For some though, it feels like too big a coincidence that a Dublin panel in the midst of an historic run is being shorn of vital players in the prime of their careers.
Former Dublin manager Paul "Pillar" Caffrey appeared on RTE 2fm's Game On last night and suggested there were issues within the Dublin camp that we don't know about yet.
I think the Stephen Cluxton issue was never resolved all year. Paul Mannion not coming back to play was a huge loss. Eric Lowndes walking away from the squad four weeks ago - they're all really things that didn't add up.
Dessie put on a strong front and said these things were all manageable but when little things like this are raising their head you know that things are not right within the squad.
They were still very close to getting over the line in normal time. The last two scores that they gave away were absolutely crazy but when it came to extra-time Mayo were on a different level.
There will be a fallout from this [for Dublin]. That'll be a hard dressing room to walk back into whenever they resume. Fellas will find it hard to look each other in the face because it didn't have the finish they would have wanted.
They didn't die with their boots on and their shields held high. They were a bet team once Mayo got back level. They looked fatigued and rag-balled by the end, and then next thing discipline goes out the window.
It was a sloppy finish to it from a Dublin perspective.
Caffrey also question whether Dublin's breach of the Covid training ban, and the fallout from it, had a bigger impact that we realised.
"I think the Covid breach did a lot to unsettle the camp. There's a couple of teachers in the squad. There's frontline workers like Mick Fitzsimons, who is a doctor. A lot of players would have families who are in frontline services so it probably rattled the squad more than we thought."
While the focus for the rest of the football season will now turn to Mayo, and to the second semi-final between Tyrone and Kerry, which has already reached saga status without a ball being thrown in, you would still imagine there'll be plenty more fallout to this Dublin defeat in the weeks and months ahead.
SEE ALSO: How Mayo Won By Turning Dublin's Greatest Weapon Against Them
