St George Illawarra captain Gareth Widdop accused his side of taking "the easy option" against Parramatta on Sunday, as the Dragons crashed back to earth in Wollongong.
The Dragons were barely in the contest in their 34-16 loss to the Eels, dropping the ball on the opening play of the match and trailing after just 40 seconds.
Halfback Josh McCrone also had a difficult night, as they looked nothing like the team that flogged early premiership-favourites Penrith 42-10 last week.
Their starting pack also totalled just 312 metres according to Fox Sports Stats, less than half of the 728 metres they ran against Penrith.
But captain Gareth Widdop insisted his side hadn't rested on their laurels heading into the match.
"I don't think there was any complacency," he said.
"It's just about turning up and doing your job and doing it with some passion.
"I don't think we did tonight. We took the easy option rather than play tough rugby league."
Despite the result, coach Paul McGregor insisted last week's win was no fluke.
The Dragons were sitting pretty at the top of the ladder after the first round with a for-and-against of +32, helped by the fact they topped 40 for the first time in almost 21 months last week.
However, a rising error count stopped them from having the same chances to accumulate points on Sunday, as the Eels controlled both the territorial game and possession.
"Last week wasn't a fluke," McGregor said.
"Eight days can be a long time in footy.
"We just didn't give ourselves any time to build any pressure ... It wasn't good enough to be honest."
The Dragons have the difficult task of the defending premiers at Cronulla next week, and McGregor is keen to see a distinct improvement from his group.
He eyed his own team's reversal of form as how quickly things can change, but wanted that to signal a turnaround for the better next Sunday.
"It's how quick you turn that around but," he said.
"It's a local derby so the boys will be up for that.
"We'll learn from what we dished up tonight but move on quickly and get ready for Cronulla."
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