Playing his 432nd match to equal North Melbourne great Brent Harvey's VFL/AFL games record, Pendlebury and his Magpies were outclassed by the red-hot Cats.
Leading by only four points late in the second quarter, Geelong then kicked eight unanswered goals to secure a 18.14 (122) to 9.14 (68) win in front of 83,166 fans on Saturday night.
Pendlebury kicked a goal following a strong tackle in the second term, causing the Magpies faithful to roar.
But the inspiring moment proved to be as good as it got all night for Collingwood, who were completely outworked after that.
Pendlebury still finished with 27 disposals as he prepares to rest for next Friday night's trip to face Sydney at the SCG.
The 38-year-old will break Harvey's record against West Coast, back at the MCG on May 23 instead.
"This is a plan that we stick to with high performance, but also rewarding and celebrating one of the greats of our game," Magpies coach Craig McRae said.
"We're excited for what that looks like a couple of weeks time, we'll get up to Sydney and put on a good performance for our fans, because it wasn't good enough tonight."
In an added blow for Collingwood, captain Darcy Moore was ruled out of the game with concussion after a huge collision with Geelong tagger Oisin Mullin late in the second quarter.
Moore will miss at least the assignment against the ladder-leading Swans at the SCG under the concussion protocols.
Mullin proved hugely influential, blunting the influence of Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos.
In his quietest game of the season, Daicos still gathered 29 disposals but had little impact on the match compared to his usual lofty standards.
Ex-Collingwood forward Ollie Henry haunted his former club with four goals in his most prolific outing since the 2024 preliminary final loss against the Brisbane Lions.
Shannon Neale also bagged three goals, the last one coming only moments after popping a dislocated finger back in during the last quarter.
Cats flyer Shaun Mannagh also added three majors, including a goal of the year contender from the pocket in the final term.
"Defending Collingwood's always a challenge, their rebound from that defensive midfield area can be difficult to stop," Geelong coach Chris Scott said.
"Defensively, we were able to take that away from them, they missed their shots as well, so we shouldn't be overconfident around the performance there.
"But for the most part, it was pretty solid."
Star midfield pair Bailey Smith (40 possessions; 16 in the last quarter) and Max Holmes (33) ran riot.
In his 200th game, five-time All-Australian Tom Stewart produced one of his better performances of the season with a defensive masterclass.
After kicking a clinical 15.3 from just 34 entries inside-50 in a thrilling draw last week with Hawthorn, Collingwood managed just 9.14.
The Cats head to Brisbane for a grand final rematch on Thursday night after only a five-day break.
12°C