On a weekend with a billing that promised to display the openness of this new All-Ireland series, football’s old empires struck back. Kerry and Dublin will both feature in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals. Same as it mostly ever is. Upstarts be damned, the establishment still runs this town.As Jack O’Connor and Ger Brennan started to plot for the last eight of the competition, Kieran McGeeney and Jim McGuinness had already packed up their tents for the summer. For it was football’s traditional powerhouses who survived the trapdoor over the weekend while two of the favourites crashed to their demise.It wasn’t meant to be like this for Armagh or Donegal. For neither to make the last eight would have been almost unfathomable a few weeks ago. Think of the celebrations after Armagh’s Ulster final triumph, think of Donegal’s humbling of Kerry in Killarney. The unravelling of their respective seasons has been quite something – so much has changed in so little time. But through the blur of their exits, Kerry and Dublin endure.“We just wanted to give ourselves an opportunity to be in the draw on the Monday morning, which was the ultimate aim,” said Brennan after Dublin’s win at Croke Park.“In terms of the performance piece, you’re just asking fellas to give everything to the cause, and that’s all you can do.“The result will take care of itself, and to give credit to the whole squad, those who weren’t in the 26 today, those in the 26 who didn’t come on, there’s been a real push and improvement in what the guys have been doing off the pitch.”A downcast Michael Murphy after Donegal's defeat by Dublin. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho Donegal haven’t won since what appeared to be a planting-of-a-flag victory over the Kingdom last month. A surprise loss to Cork followed in Round 2A, setting them on a path to Sunday’s Round 3 game, where, despite entering the game as favourites, they came up short against Dublin.“Disappointed, obviously,” said McGuinness afterwards. “It is hard to reflect now because it is so early, but we didn’t do enough in the game in terms of consistency. You are trying to arrive with as many healthy bodies as possible, which is a big part of it. “We tried to do that today but just didn’t have enough in the tank, that’s the bottom line. I think kick-outs were a big part of it, our own kick-out wasn’t firing the way it normally would.“Dublin did well on their own, they were getting them out over the top very early and it was allowing them to get the short ones away, they were asking both questions.”Kerry tore Armagh apart on Saturday with a display of clinical execution. Having lost just two championship games at Fitzgerald Stadium since 1995, they weren’t about to lose two in four weeks.“After the way we trained here last Wednesday night and the previous Wednesday night, I felt that we were coming into form,” said O’Connor afterwards.“Training never lies, you always know. I went home happy on Wednesday night that we were in a good place. Sure, the lads love it here, they love the stadium, they love the ground here. I was confident enough that we’d have a big performance after watching them training.”Kieran McGeeney after Armagh's comprehensive loss to Kerry. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho All four home teams won over the weekend – Kerry in Killarney, Mayo in Castlebar, Dublin at Croke Park (ahem!) and Monaghan in Clones. Only one of the four provincial champions, Kerry, remain standing.Westmeath’s odyssey ended in Clones, where Monaghan’s experienced players led the way to victory. The draw for the All-Ireland quarter-finals will take place during RTÉ Radio 1’s Morning Ireland on Monday shortly after 8.30am. Bowl one will contain Cork, Louth, Galway, Tyrone, while the second bowl will have Kerry, Mayo, Dublin, MonaghanThe draw is subject, in the first instance, to the avoidance of repeat provincial final pairings and, where possible, repeat pairings from Rounds 1 and 2 of the All-Ireland series. Therefore, three ties cannot take place: Cork v Kerry, Louth v Dublin, Tyrone v Mayo.All four quarter-finals will be played at Croke Park next weekend.“Obviously, whoever we’re playing is going to be more rested than us,” said O’Connor on Saturday.Yerra. You know how this plays out.But then on Sunday evening, Brennan was getting in on the act as well. “Looking back over the last two seasons, I think only one of the preliminary quarter-final winners actually won the quarter final as well, so it’s a tough task. Whoever we draw, they will definitely have the advantage.”At the end of the longest day of the year, what remained was a reminder of how this football malarkey really works.Kerry and Dublin rarely do short championship campaigns.