The Brisbane Lions are scrambling for answers at the wrong time of the year after producing an "insipid" opening which has seen their AFL top-four dream disappear.

Lions coach Michael Voss lamented how Brisbane's "team fabric fell apart" in their costly three-goal loss to the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night.

It was just their third loss at the Gabba this season and leaves them six points behind the fourth-placed Bulldogs with two matches to play - against Port Adelaide (home) and Sydney (away).

With fourth place on the line, Voss was furious his players failed to take the game to the Bulldogs and only clicked into gear when it appeared the match was beyond them.

"I said to them at halftime that this year I never thought I'd say it about this group but we were insipid in the way we played in the first half," he said.

"We got seduced by the game. We didn't really move the ball with any real ascendancy and almost were waiting for permission to play the style of footy we want to play.

"We got pushed off the ball too easily, we couldn't hold our ground and we had no real strong ball movement."

At 32 points down entering the final term, regular defender Josh Drummond inspired a comeback from the wing by slotting two booming goals and setting up another to skipper Jonathan Brown.

Voss bemoaned the fact the late fightback, after a shoddy start, was a repeat of many matches this season.

"It was almost like this weight comes off our shoulders, like we are not expected to win, so now we decide to do something," Voss said.

"It's not sustainable. You can't come up against good sides and expect to be able to play that way.

"There's some sort of pressure that we're not coping with at this point in time, what that is we'll try and find but we've got to get there quickly because we don't have much of the season left."

Brisbane also shot themselves in the foot early by missing a number of kickable goals, including two close-range set shots by full forward Daniel Bradshaw.

It was former Lion Jason Akermanis, jeered by the Gabba crowd every time he touched the ball, who ultimately sealed the game with a superb left-footer on the boundary line.

"We didn't play well at all but in actual fact we were very much in contention there until my great mate Aker decided to put one on his left foot," Voss said.

"And that was probably the difference in the end - their finishing skills and our inability to want to really want to make the play.

"I just think the team fabric fell apart, and what we stand for as the Brisbane Lions fell apart today.

"That's something we have to get back and quickly."

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