It took them a while to get going but when Dublin eventually found top gear they sped past Sligo to a huge All-Ireland SFC win at Kingspan Breffni, securing top spot in Group 3 and qualification for the quarter-finals.
Trailing by a point approaching the 20th minute, there was no suggestion that this was going to end in a 24-point win for Dessie Farrell's crew but they soon got on top and ultimately hammered the Connacht finalists.
Con O'Callaghan finished with 1-05 while fellow goalscorer Colm Basquel struck 1-03 and oozed quality during what turned out to be a one-sided rout.
Defender Eoin Murchan got forward for a goal too with 10 different Dublin players getting on the scoresheet overall.
With Roscommon losing out to Kildare elsewhere, it means that Dublin have finished as the clear winners of Group 3, though even if Roscommon had won then Dublin would still have taken top spot on scoring difference.
Dublin will learn their quarter-final opposition tomorrow morning while Sligo's season is over.
Sligo manager Tony McEntee stated beforehand that, realistically, the Division 4 league champions weren't targeting a win over All-Ireland hopefuls Dublin.
It didn't appear that way initially with the Yeats men giving as good as they got for the opening 20 minutes.
Dublin hit the interval with a 1-13 to 0-04 half-time lead but that dozen-point gap failed to tell the true story of a highly competitive opening quarter.
In fact, with 18 minutes played Sligo led by 0-03 to 0-02 following points from Darragh Cummins, Niall Murphy and Sean Carrabine.
Murphy and Carrabine had the full attention of their markers, Murchan and Michael Fitzsimons, and were causing all sorts of bother.
They kicked themselves that they weren't able to make better use of their possession with Murphy blasting two wides from acute angles on the right wing, two other shots dropping short from Sligo attacks and another hitting the post.
Pat Spillane also streaked through for a 24th minute shot on goal, outpacing Daire Newcombe, but pulled his shot left and wide.
There was a further blow for Sligo in the shape of an injury which forced Luke Towey off approaching the half-hour mark.
Dublin had already turned the screw by that stage with O'Callaghan's 19th minute goal igniting a Sky Blues scoring blitz.
Ciaran Kilkenny, a late addition to the lineup wearing number 18, operated in a two-man inside forward line alongside Paddy Small who finished with 0-5.
O'Callaghan played in a deeper role but still burst through for 1-04 in the opening half alone.
Dublin mixed it up with long, diagonal deliveries into the danger zone as well as impressive chains of hand-passing that soon tore the Sligo defence asunder.
Niall Scully kicked a terrific long ball towards the left of goals for Small to seize on before playing the ball across to O'Callaghan to palm in for the opening goal.
Sligo struggled to get their kick-outs away to black jerseys and found themselves under siege for the remainder of the half with Dublin outscoring the underdogs by 1-11 to 0-01 between the 19th minute and half-time.
Dublin put the game to bed in the minutes after half-time when Basquel came alive with two terrific solo runs that sliced through the Sligo rearguard.
The Ballyboden man finished the first with a left footed shot to the net for a 40th minute goal that drew gasps from the crowd.
Three minutes later, Basquel took off again and this time found space close to goal with a clever solo dummy before playing in Murchan to palm home.
With 20 points now between them, Farrell took the opportunity to rest key players and veteran midfielder James McCarthy was first to be called ashore. John Small, Niall Scully and O'Callaghan followed him in the third quarter.
Dublin's fifth substitution, Jack McCaffrey coming on for Murchan with around 10 minutes to go, drew one of the biggest cheers of the afternoon.
McCaffrey was involved in the build-up to late scores for Paul Mannion and Basquel too as the Dubs went through the motions in the closing stages.
They finished with 14 players as Sean Bugler was taken off in the 68th minute with an apparent injury.
Dublin: Stephen Cluxton; Daire Newcombe, Michael Fitzsimons, Eoin Murchan (1-00); Brian Howard (0-01), John Small (0-01), Lee Gannon (0-03); Brian Fenton, James McCarthy; Niall Scully, Sean Bugler (0-02), Colm Basquel (1-03, 0-01f); Paddy Small (0-05, 0-03f), Con O'Callaghan (1-05), Ciaran Kilkenny (0-01).
Subs: Tom Lahiff for McCarthy 46, Cian Murphy for J Small 50, Paul Mannion (0-02) for Scully 50, Lorcan O'Dell for O'Callaghan 53, Jack McCaffrey for Murchan 59.
Sligo: Aidan Devaney; Luke Nicholson, Brian Cox, Evan Lyons; Luke Towey, Jack Lavin, Darragh Cummins (0-01); Cian Lally, Paul Kilcoyne; Paul McNamara, Finnian Cawley, Alan Reilly; Niall Murphy (0-02), Sean Carrabine (0-04, 0-02f, 0-01 45), Pat Spillane.
Subs: Mikey Gordon for Towey 29, Gerard O'Kelly Lynch for Lally 50, Mark Walsh for Cummins 51, Patrick O'Connor (0-01) for Reilly 52, Keelan Cawley for Lavin 61.
Referee: Niall Cullen (Fermanagh).
