The Magpies were out-muscled by North Melbourne by 30 points at Etihad Stadium while their fellow top-four counterpart Adelaide went down to the Brisbane Lions by 10 points at the Gabba.
The pair of losses - combined with the Pies' looming clash with the fifth-placed West Coast - has thrown the top four wide open, while wins to North, Geelong, Carlton and Fremantle has tightened the positions through to eighth.
"It's definitely wide open. It could come from anywhere," Blair said.
"A side that's peaking at the right time from outside the top four could really bob up and be a threat come September."
Listen to Nathan Buckley's post-match press conference.
Blair was at a loss to explain where the Pies' disappointing performance came from just seven days after they outlasted the Sydney Swans in a narrow victory at ANZ Stadium.
Coach Nathan Buckley went as far to suggest the Pies failed to have a winner in any position on the ground.
Don't blame forwards - Buckley.
The premiership forward said it was hard to understand what changed in a week.
"I'm not too sure. I guess a lot of it comes down to the opposition that you're playing," Blair said.
"A loss is never expected; you go out there thinking you're going to win so it was out of the blue a little bit but all the credit to them - they're playing the footy they want to play and it's working for them.
"They're a side that's up and about, and last week was a real high and we were ready to go again this week but they went to another level after the first 10 to 15 minutes and got on top of us."
Blair said the players knew they had failed to give their "big guys" - Travis Cloke and Chris Dawes - much of a chance with their delivery, and conceded the team as a whole had been "a little bit off".
But he said it wasn't all doom and gloom. He believed the Pies were so far off their best, the performance couldn't be considered a true representation of their form.
"There were a lot of negatives but there were positives out of it as well," he said.
"It was the exact opposite of what we wanted but there was a lot of upside in the game because we were so far from the way we play footy.
"We'll look at it come Monday and try and get the result we want next week. There will be a lot of things that come out of tonight that could be improved."
Jennifer Witham is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club
