Their two defeats have come against premiership favourites Hawthorn and Geelong, but they have generally been regarded as uncharacteristic performances and no alarm bells are being heard at the SCG just yet.
Their record mirrors where they sat at the same stage last season, which would end with a 16-6 win-loss return and ultimately a fifth flag.
But the defending premiers are about to face a stern test of their standing, with a brutal month of football on the horizon.
It starts with the visit of a Fremantle side to the SCG on Saturday that also holds a 5-2 record, before the Swans tackle a huge Friday night showdown with Collingwood at the MCG.
They return home to host Essendon in round 10 and then travel to Adelaide to take on the Crows ahead of a bye in round 12.
It is a four-week stretch that will give a strong indication of the Swans' hopes of another top-four finish and a repeat premiership.
"We need to improve. That's what we need to do," coach John Longmire conceded after the loss to the Hawks.
"That's the job in front of us now for the rest of the year, and it starts next week against Freo. We need to improve.
"That's our challenge."
The Swans were well down in the effort areas that are their trademark against the Hawks, which was also the issue in their loss to the Cats in round four.
They are missing some key personnel, with Alex Johnson gone for the season, Lewis Roberts-Thomson sidelined for at least another five weeks and Rhyce Shaw taking longer than expected to conquer an abdominal tear.
Sam Reid is again facing questions marks over his form, while he wasn't helped by a host of forward entries against Hawthorn that lacked any sort of precision and were repelled by the Hawks with little fuss.
That, of course, leads to the 202cm, multi-million dollar elephant in the room – Kurt Tippett.
The former Adelaide spearhead is seven games into his 11-match ban and would have solved some of the Swans' woes at the MCG on the weekend.
A power forward with his size and marking ability can overcome the issue of misdirected high balls into the forward line, a situation that the likes of Reid, Ben McGlynn and Jesse White were powerless to solve.
But the reality is the Swans must navigate a tricky month without Tippett, who will finally be eligible ahead of the round 13 match-up with Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium.
Swans superstar Adam Goodes, who had his best game of the season against the Hawks, had a clear message for some of his teammates after the 37-point loss that knocked them out of the top four.
"We have to get more contributors, more people willing to pay the price," Goodes said.
"We didn't have enough players who were toeing the line.
"Those players know who they are, they have to work hard on the track this week, and we all have to get better."
James Dampney is a reporter for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_JD
