Sydney coach John Longmire admits his side is in danger of dropping out of the eight after Essendon kept its own AFL finals hopes alive by downing the battling Swans by 43 points at Docklands.

Friday night's 15.19 (109) to 10.6 (66) victory means the Bombers remain outside of the top eight only on percentage, while the fifth-placed Swans could finish the weekend out of the eight if other results go against them.

"We've got to put the parachute up and stop the fall pretty quickly," he said.

"It's not going to happen the way we played the last quarter tonight.

"There might be a couple of players coming back next week but they're not all coming back, so we need to have a pretty narrow focus on what we need to get right."

Sydney has never missed the finals under Longmire's eight-year tenure but faces a tough run home with games against Collingwood, Melbourne, GWS and Hawthorn to come.

The Bombers led throughout the second half and booted four unanswered goals in the final term to post their sixth win from seven games.

Skipper Dyson Heppell (31 disposals) led the way with Devon Smith (17 touches, two goals) and Brendon Goddard also influential.

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Held goalless for the first time this year during last week's shock loss to Gold Coast, Swans superstar Lance Franklin had another night to forget.

Franklin was towelled up by best-afield Michael Hurley in the first half and had little impact in the game, despite finishing with two majors.

The 31-year-old suffered a bruised heel during round one and Sydney coach John Longmire said before the game that Franklin had "probably trained for about 20 minutes for the season".

The Bombers went a man down midway through the opening term when backman Matt Dea landed heavily in a marking contest and hit his head on the turf.

Dea left the ground on a stretcher and played no further part in the game.

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Sydney had their own injury worries with in-form key defender Aliir Aliir (knee), midfielder Harry Cunningham (ribs) and veteran Heath Grundy (illness) all spending time in the rooms during Friday night's game but Longmire was confident there were no long-term concerns.

The Swans have been battered by injuries this season with premiership players Dan Hannebery, Jarrad McVeigh, Kieren Jack and Sam Reid among the casualties.

"We'd love all those personnel to be up and firing, and fit, and feeling fantastic, but for various reasons, they're not," Longmire said.

"We need to just get our focus back on the contest and the willingness to win our one-on-ones and the pressure against opposition.

"Those are the things that we can get right, regardless of personnel."

Essendon finished over the top of the Sydney Swans to stay just outside the top eight. ( AAP: Julian Smith )

With AFL chief Gillon McLachlan and football operations manager Steve Hocking keen observers from the bench, the game opened up in an entertaining third term.

Goals to Franklin, Heath Grundy and Ben Ronke kept Sydney in the hunt but Essendon's much-improved ball movement proved the difference, allowing speedsters Adam Saad and Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti space to create.

Sydney enforcer Zak Jones was reported before the opening bounce, striking Zach Merrett with a crude left hook which is certain to face match review scrutiny.

Jones was booked again in the fourth quarter for a high bump on Kyle Langford, who went to the Essendon rooms during the final minutes.

Smith could also be in trouble for a deliberate trip on Sydney's Luke Parker.

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AAP