The Panthers' first half of this season was one of the most dominant in memory, winning 12 of their opening 13 games with an average margin of 17 points.
But they have since come back to the pack, winning just three of their last eight to find themselves in a battle for a top-two finish.
Back-to-back defeats to the Warriors and Sydney Roosters, combined with Isaah Yeo's pec injury, suddenly makes the competition a much more open race.
"I know there's things people have been saying, like 'they're in a slump' or 'they can't win without Yeoy'," forward Scott Sorensen told AAP.
"Everyone's entitled to their opinion. But I know what happens in here and the conversations that happen every single day.
"You can't control what people say but I feel like they are (overreacting) ... It was 12-6 against Roosters. Warriors obviously punched us in the face.
"But if you watch that game closely, we're coming after them at the end. It's not like getting flogged 30-nil."
An analysis of Penrith's season shows their yardage has been well down over the past two months, with the middle no longer won so easily.
They are also missing an extra five tackles per game, while having to do more work in defence after dominating possession in the majority of early season games.
The results have come through the Origin period where big-name players have been in and out, with Dylan Edwards and Yeo since injured.
The team's attack has also changed with Yeo a key link man, hooker Mitch Kenny injured and Jack Cogger having replaced Blaize Talagi at five-eighth.
The NRL itself also changed midway through 2026, with set restarts dropping across the league.
"We handled all the six agains and how fast it was, really well," Edwards, who returned last week, said.
"Now they've dropped off a little bit, you've just got to adapt.
"It's hard to be up for a full season.There are a lot of factors that go into one.
"Origin obviously causes disruptions, the scheduling, lack of training, lack of cohesion, travel.
"You can take your pick, but we do enough work to be able to put in performances and keep getting better."
Penrith will welcome back Casey McLean against Melbourne on Thursday, while Paul Alamoti (hamstring) and Kenny (leg) are due back for finals.
That could leave Yeo as the only Panther sidelined with the lock most likely to return for knockout finals if he continues to avoid surgery.
"We haven't been as sharp as we'd like and we've got a few things to work on," Sorensen said.
"But we're not sitting here talking about changing game plans or the team. It's just simple things we want to sharpen up.
"A fortnight ago we were playing the Raiders in Mudgee, and we had a really good performance.
"The boys are pretty dialled in. We know what we need to do."
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