Second-rower Liam Martin finished a week of contract negotiations with a try-scoring double as the Panthers moved atop the ladder on Friday night.
A shaky start to the year has left the Bulldogs playing catch-up on the top-eight for most of 2026, and they could be officially out of the finals picture by Saturday night.
If North Queensland and South Sydney win their respective round-26 games, they will become the last two teams to book their finals spots.
"It's disappointing because if we played like that in the first 11 rounds, we wouldn't be sitting here in this situation," said Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo.
"While we were really brave and good and tried hard, they were just a little bit better than us in most areas. Three tries to two probably summed it up."
To play finals from here, the Bulldogs need to beat Brisbane next week and hope the Cowboys lose their last two games, both of which are at home against bottom-nine sides.
The Bulldogs also need ninth-placed Manly to lose to the Warriors in the last round of the regular season.
In a game of finals-like intensity, a trio of Nathan Cleary penalty goals was the only thing separating the sides moving into the final 15 minutes.
But in the set after the last of those goals, centre Casey McLean darted back on the inside for the Panthers' third try and made it a three-score game.
Patchy since the State of Origin period, the Panthers more closely resembled their four-time premiership-winning best against the Bulldogs.
"We've played quite a few good, hard games lately, but I felt like that was our best 80 minutes for some time. It had to be," said coach Ivan Cleary.
"We were pretty patient and ended up sort of coming away with it through the second half. Pretty happy with that."
They completed perfectly until the 49th minute, while Cleary flaunted his full kicking arsenal to keep his side on the march.
Most notably, Bulldogs fullback Connor Tracey spilt a floating Cleary bomb and could only watch as Martin scooped the ball up to complete his double.
Martin had earlier opened the scoring thanks to a one-handed offload from fullback Dylan Edwards, who was at his busy best all night.
The Panthers can guarantee a top-two finish, and two home finals, by beating lowly Wests Tigers next week, though they are likely to rest key players with an eye on finals.
The Bulldogs' best player in the round-six win over Penrith, halfback Lachie Galvin starred again and set up both the visitors' tries.
He found right centre Matt Burton out the back with a lovely cut-out pass, and later put Jacob Preston over with his trademark short ball.
"(Galvin) has been really good all year," Ciraldo said.
Halves partner Stephen Crichton had a much tougher night, twice spraying grubber kicks dead and squandering good field position.
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