With only nine games left to play, Hearts are now in the home straight. For the second successive weekend, they extended their lead at the top of the Premiership as others faltered.
The notion that Derek McInnes and his players will finish this season as champions is no longer some kind of far-fetched fantasy.
There is now a genuine belief and expectation among Hearts supporters that their team will go on and see it out from here. History is within their grasp.
You only had to look at some of the pictures and videos on social media from their 1-0 victory over Aberdeen on Saturday to understand the sense of occasion.
Every Hearts home game now feels like an event, almost like a cup final in itself, with the Tynecastle crowd invested unconditionally in the cause of dragging their team to the trophy.
It is worth nothing that Hearts have not lost at home in the league all season. With a six-point lead in their pocket, that home form might just be enough to get them over the line.
Danny Rohl and Martin O’Neill went head to head at the weekend, with Celtic fighting back for a draw at Ibrox
But their title credentials extend far beyond the fact that Tynecastle has become a fortress once again.
What has elevated Hearts above both Rangers and Celtic this season is not only their consistency, but their ability to roll with the punches.
The loss of Lawrence Shankland and Cammy Devlin to injury could well have derailed them. Likewise, the recent injury to Stuart Findlay.
Even going down to 10 men in a couple of matches earlier in the season, they still found a way to dig out results.
A 4-2 loss at Ibrox a fortnight ago could have been another hammer blow. But, in the next two matches, Hearts have bounced back immediately with two 1-0 wins.
It is this resilience which has become their greatest strength. Of all the three title contenders, it’s Hearts who have the toughest chin.
Rangers, meanwhile, have a chin made of glass. The capitulation on Sunday, when they inexplicably blew a two-goal lead, laid bare the mental frailty in Danny Rohl’s team.
For the first 45 minutes, Rangers were outstanding. As he often does in these big matches, Youssef Chermiti had suddenly morphed into prime Cristiano Ronaldo.
It was 2-0 going on three or four. Total dominance, Ibrox rocking, Rohl’s name ringing out around the stadiums as fans lapped up this mauling of their great rivals.
What unfolded thereafter was remarkable. From the moment Kieran Tierney pulled a goal back shortly after the break, Rangers totally lost their nerve. They bottled it.
Just like they bottled it away from home against ten-man Motherwell a few weeks ago, losing a late goal as they fell to a 1-1 draw.
Rohl was at fault that night at Fir Park, with his team sitting deeper and deeper, trying to cling on rather than killing the game off against ten men.
He was at fault once again on Sunday as he failed to stem the flow and change the momentum of the match after that Tierney goal.
They took a punch shortly after half-time when Tierney pulled that goal back – and collapsed in a heap.
This is the problem that Rangers have. There’s a weakness in their mindset, a lack of leadership among the players, many of whom go missing when things start going wrong.
Where was Nico Raskin during that second-half collapse? A guy who is supposed to be the club’s star midfielder, he was an empty jersey.
At no point did he get on the ball and take the sting out of the game. It was total panic stations. Rangers couldn’t keep hold of the ball.
They lost all control. Raskin has this notion in his head that he’s the second coming of Kevin de Bruyne. Plainly, he’s not. A player who goes hiding in moments of adversity, he is wildly over-hyped.
Put Callum McGregor in the heart of the Rangers midfield during that second half. There’s no way the collapse and lack of control would have been quite so prolonged and pronounced.
Given that Rangers also dropped two points last weekend away at a Livingston side who sit bottom of the table, this is why people are questioning their mentality.
Two points dropped at Motherwell against ten men, two points dropped against the worst team in the league, two points dropped against Celtic having led 2-0 at half-time.
That’s six points squandered in eminently avoidable fashion. Teams with a killer instinct just don’t do that kind of thing. Win those games and Rangers would be level with Hearts.
But, in the bigger picture, the match at Ibrox on Sunday was a demonstration of why neither Rangers nor Celtic are likely to finish as champions.
They are two inherently flawed teams. On the basis of what they have served up over recent weeks, you cannot make a case for either of them overhauling Hearts.
Celtic continue to be the kings of late drama and last-minute goals. They are not going down without a fight, there is resilience there, albeit not a whole lot of cohesion or quality.
On Martin O’Neill’s first visit to Ibrox way back in November 2000, Celtic were thrashed 5-1. At half-time on Sunday, it looked like a repeat of that could well be on the cards.
But O’Neill outfoxed Rohl and got his changes spot-on. Where he got his team selection and tactics wrong at the start with Junior Adamu and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, O’Neill made amends.
The introduction of Reo Hatate, in particular, saw Celtic dominate the second half. But O’Neill will know that Sunday counts for nothing unless Celtic win at Aberdeen on Wednesday night.
Kieran Tierney grabbed a crucial goal at the start of the second half to push Rangers back
That’s where both Old Firm clubs are at now. They are in the last-chance saloon. There is now no more margin for error.
Rangers defender John Souttar has said that his team need to be perfect from now until the end of the season if they are to catch Hearts. The same would surely apply to Celtic.
But when you look at the fixtures, they are favourable for Hearts. They have no further involvement in the Scottish Cup, so can enjoy some time now to rest and recover.
In their next three matches, they face Kilmarnock and Livingston, the league’s bottom two clubs, as well as hosting Dundee at Tynecastle. They will then host Motherwell in the final pre-split fixture.
Whilst nothing is a formality at this stage of the season, Hearts will surely take a chunky haul of points from those games if they play anywhere near their maximum capabilities.
In the same period, Celtic face games against Aberdeen, Motherwell, and two away games against both Dundee clubs
Rangers have St Mirren, Aberdeen, Dundee United and Falkirk prior to the split. You would have to say it’s Hearts who have the kinder fixtures.
That’s before we even take Motherwell into consideration. They are the form team in the league. They are ten points back from Hearts and perhaps just have too much ground to gain.
But Jens Berthel Askou’s side are going to have a huge say in who finishes as champions. It’s not inconceivable that Motherwell could win at least two of their three post-split games against Hearts, Rangers and Celtic.
Could they yet drag themselves into contention? You certainly cannot rule them out.
The Cheltenham Festival will roll around next week, but they will do well to serve up a four-horse race quite as enthralling as this.
