Joe Brolly believes Mayo must overcome a huge psychological barrier and enter a zen-like state of mind to finally end their wait for Sam Maguire by beating the Dubs next Sunday.
Their wait for an All-Ireland SFC title stretches back to 1951, a 66-year drought that's been studded with anguish for the Green and Red.
Last year Dublin beat them in a replay, Mayo's third loss in the decider in five years.
There's an almost unbearable longing to deliver that win, but The Sunday Game analyst Brolly said they must learn to block out all other distractions on the big day to get themselves over the line.
"You see it with teams, and you see it with club teams, very good club teams, who've not won a county championship," he told RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport.
"There is a thing there where some teams can play unselfconsciously.
"Like any team that goes on to win an All-Ireland, the important thing is you don't blink."
"The Dubs are brilliant at it. They don't concern themselves with anything other than the game. They plunge themselves in at the throw-in and they play to the finish, no matter what the score is.
"Like any team that goes on to win an All-Ireland, the important thing is you don't blink.
"Let's go back to the Donegal team and their one year of winning an All-Ireland (2012). If you look at their track record compared to this Mayo team, you couldn't compare that Donegal team to this Mayo team.
"This Mayo team is far superior. And yet Donegal cracked them that day. You could see that Mayo played nervously. Donegal just focused on the game, they plunged into it, and when the final whistle went, they were All-Ireland champions.
"Colm Cooper described it to me most eloquently. He said, 'the problem when you play against Dublin is that they completely ignore you; it's as though you're not there'."
Mayo have taken a long, hard road to Croke Park this year.
After losing to Galway in the Connacht SFC semi-final, Stephen Rochfrod's men waded through the qualifiers, going to extra-time against Derry and Cork, and requiring replays to kill off Roscommon and then Kerry.
It's been a grueling summer, and though Brolly feels that may ultimately catch up on them, he still claimed Mayo are the team best equipped to rattle Jim Gavin's powerful side.
"We've seen them winning semi-finals before and beating the bigger teams," Brolly added.
"They would have know they were a superior team to Kerry and that's the way they played in the replay.
"They've hardly had time to take a breath; they've just plunged from one game into another.
"Obviously there's this psychological issue with All-Ireland finals and they're having to withstand all of the hype in Mayo all over again.
"Last year we saw it. They played very hard. They were very close to it. I know there some incredibly bizarre decisions mad by management and also then they had the two own goals. It was like the Twilight Zone.
"They look a much more focused team. The defence, as they've picked it from the Kerry games, it's a much better defence, but they've still got a couple of fundamental issues when they are facing the Dubs.
"There's no doubt they are the team that can beat Dublin. They have the power, the athleticism. But they do have some problems."
