Monday's draw saw the big guns avoid each other as the latter stages of the season begin to take shape.
Mayo were not among the names in the hat and ultimately have only themselves to blame.
There's been plenty of talk about the final play when Ciarán Moore tore up the left wing and scored the winner when it made no odds to Donegal at that stage.
I heard Shane O'Donnell had said the other day that some voices on the Donegal sideline were roaring either for him to kick it dead or for Shaun Patton to run the clock down and do the same - and not risk possibly finishing third in the group.
For me, it's about the innocence of youth in that play. Moore is only 22 and all he saw when he got the ball was green grass and he took off. I doubt whether he even knew or cared about the permutations at that stage.
Perhaps if the ball had fallen to Michael Murphy or Paddy McBrearty, they might have taken a different tack.
From Mayo's perspective, it's the old perennial failing of not seeing out a game. We had a similar scenario at Hyde Park 12 months ago - albeit with less dire consequences - when Dublin fisted an equaliser on the last play.
On Sunday, Mayo had 18 seconds to prolong their season and couldn't do it. Were they still in celebration mode after Fergal Boland's point?
At that point, you've got to scramble back to the 45m line and make them go short on the kickout.
Yes, you're surrendering possession but they've to work the ball the length of the pitch. There's a lot of time there for one of them to decide, 'here, this isn't worth it, we'll just call it over.'
Mayo did play well against the wind in the second half, in which they were helped by Donegal's insistence on running the ball, with very little direct play other than from Patton's kickouts. In that scenario, Mayo's press and tackling was very effective.
But 0-06 was a paltry return in the first half. And ultimately, the roots of this exit go back further than that.
There's a lot of moaning that Cavan shouldn't still be in it and they'll get hockeyed in Killarney and so forth.
But whose fault is that? Cavan came to MacHale Park and won. On that basis, they deserve to go through.
Certainly, on the evidence of their last two displays, you are left wondering how the hell Mayo lost that day. They'll have several months to ponder it.
Down-Galway is obviously the pick of the four games at the weekend. Pádraic Joyce's side are definitely getting the rub of the green at the moment.
They've had no shortage of luck in the championship so far, from winning a Connacht final against a Mayo side who kicked a truck-load of wides in the second half and then somehow surviving in Derry thanks to a chaotic last-minute goal. Can they ride that luck a little longer?
Things looked grim for them at half-time last Saturday evening. Staring elimination in the face seemed to liven them up. They decided they were going to go down swinging, at least.
Shane Walsh gave one of his stellar performances in the nick of time and was a decisive figure in the second half.
But Rob Finnerty's display was overlooked in all the acclaim for Walsh. He underlined his status as Galway's most important and consistent forward.
He scored 3-22 from play in the championship and that's nearly all against Division 1 opposition, with the exception of New York.
The nonchalance with which he slipped home the second goal was glorious to witness. He has that corner-forward's cheekiness. His movement and his shimmying ability allow him to create space for himself, all the more so inside now the game is more stretched.
It's funny sometimes how confidence can spark. That second half performance could well be the catalyst for Galway to rediscover their form.
Down are dangerous opponents and they've been in terrific form. Pat Havern has announced himself as one of the best two-point shooters in the country.
But they've been very open at the back and it's hard to beat this Galway team in a shootout.
The other games will go to form. Kerry will get over this weekend but then there's a strong likelihood they're running into Armagh. Are they steeled for that at the minute?
They strolled unthinkingly into an ambush in Tullamore last Saturday and now their season has been shunted off course. You could get a sense of it beforehand that Kerry were just not up for that game. It was reminiscent of the Mayo-Cavan game in that respect.
Darragh Ó Sé said in his column that there might have been a touch of arrogance about the way they agreed to play the game in Offaly - which suggested that they could just turn up and win it wherever.
Combine that with their high profile injuries and they were vulnerable to a sucker punch against a Meath team who were tuned in for the game and have huge size around the middle. We saw in the Dublin game how hard they are to stop when they get momentum and start dominating kickouts. They blew them away.
Once they get their front-rank forwards back, Kerry definitely have the football quality. But have they the bit of dog in them to survive an examination from the top teams? We'll likely find out in the quarter-final.
Follow a live blog on the All-Ireland Football Championship on Saturday and Sunday on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates on Saturday Sport and Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Saturday Game at 9.15pm and The Sunday Game from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
Watch the Tailteann Cup semi-finals, Wicklow v Limerick and Fermanagh v Kildare, on Sunday from 1.30pm. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Sunday Game at 9.30pm.
