Carlton coach Brett Ratten admits his team might have enjoyed the view from the top half of the AFL ladder a fraction too much after being knocked back down to earth by Essendon at the MCG.

Two comeback wins in the past two rounds, over Port Adelaide and Collingwood, had the Blues in the top eight in the second half of a season for the first time since 2001.

But it proved a short stint, after 13th-placed Essendon upstaged them with a goal blitz in the first and last quarters to win 20.16 (136) to 15.11 (101) to demote the Blues to 10th spot.

"We're not talking finals again. It was great that we got to have a look but as soon as we got our head above the horizon we got it kicked off," Carlton coach Brett Ratten said.

"We thought that, maybe, being in the eight, that was the challenge we threw to the group, to stay in the eight.

"Now, I think it's about us winning games and the development of players ... don't worry about playing finals football."

Ratten conceded his young team might have become distracted by hype surrounding their improving form.

"It is hard not get caught up in it," he said.

"This game is such a brutal game that if you're not on your game, you're off it by two per cent, two per cent by every player, that's a dramatic drop in your team."

Most worrying was the return to an alarming trait they have been attempting to eradicate - conceding large spurts of goals when the run of play was against them.

Much had been made in the lead-up to the match of their more steely defensive approach since the last time they met the Bombers, a similarly high-scoring loss in round three.

But the game was the first since that clash Carlton have conceded 20 goals in a match.

They mainly came in two bursts - an opening term in which the Bombers outscored them 7.5 to 1.2 and which Ratten labelled their worst opening term for the year.

Carlton threatened to pull off another comeback, surging back from a 36-point deficit in time-on in the third term to hit the lead on the back of six successive goals either side of the last change.

But Essendon surged away with eight goals to two in the last 17 minutes, including three in six minutes to Andy Lovett at the tail end of the game.

Ratten lamented the ease with which the Bombers scored directly from stoppages, with Essendon ruckman David Hille dominating the hit-outs and Jobe Watson dishing the ball out of the packs.

Two of the major positives for Essendon were the form of young small forward Angus Monfries and skipper Matthew Lloyd.

Monfries played what coach Matthew Knights believed was his best game for the club, kicking four goals and picking up 25 touches, while Lloyd also kicked four while working hard up the ground to continue his return to form.

Knights was delighted with his team's poise under siege in the last term, particularly after Carlton spearhead Brendan Fevola, who starred with seven goals in a lone hand, kicked an absolute gem from 50m out on the boundary to narrow the gap to 12 points at the 27-minute mark.

"The response to that was really significant, they didn't go back into their shells," he said.

"We spoke about before the game, whatever the result, whether we're five up or five down just stay focussed, stay in a good zone, keep going after our roles and our team plan."

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