Having ended the early part of the season as league champions and serious All-Ireland contenders, Mayo could exit at the quarter-final stage at the hands of neighbours Galway unless they quickly improve up front.
That's the view held by RTÉ football analysts Ciarán Whelan and Tomás Ó Sé, with the former Dublin footballer also wondering where the leadership will come from when the team hits a sticky patch in a game.
Kevin McStay’s side looked on course to top their group when Tommy Conroy’s goal put his team six points up against Cork in the final round-robin clash.
It meant they edged Mayo out of second place, ensuring they have home advantage in next weekend’s preliminary quarter-finals, while the westerners face a daunting trip to Salthill.
Speaking on this week’s RTÉ GAA podcast, Whelan says the manner of the last quarter collapse will be a worry for McStay and his management team.
"It leaves a lot of question marks over Mayo, particularly the last 10, 15 minutes when Mayo needed leaders," he said.
"The question you would have had against Mayo all year, was when the pressure comes on, do they have people that can stand up?
"It was kind of left to Paddy Durcan, who kicked a couple of wides, but he was the only one really trying to drive on."
Whelan outlined that as well as leadership issues, the other element that still needs addressing is a familiar one for Mayo.
Of their starting forwards, only Ryan O’Donoghue (0-5, 0-4fs) and Jordan Flynn, who kicked over four superb scores, raised white flags from play.
Whelan suggests that the pattern has been evident, with the memorable away win in Killarney something of an anomaly.
"If you park the Kerry game, which suited the Mayo style of play, they got four points from play against Galway in the league final, six points against Roscommon, seven against Louth and 1-06 against Cork.
"That’s just not good enough. The reliance on Ryan O’Donoghue to win frees, Jordan Flynn had to pitch in with four points You’d be worried about that firepower up front."
Ó Sé has said that history has shown that you can be made to look foolish for writing off Mayo’s chances, and that the early body of work this year under new management had people rightly talking up the current crop of players.
He argues however that a blunt attack just won’t cut it for a county with such lofty ambitions.
"The only thing that will suffice in Mayo is an All-Ireland. That is what they will be judged on," he said.
"But I’ll argue it, and I’ve always said it, to win an All-Ireland you have got to have marquee forwards and that is going to be thrown at them again.
"It’s an unbelievably difficult challenge now for Mayo, to lift it, to go down to Salthill and get a win."
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