The Reds were left to lament what Reds captain Liam Wright called "unQueensland football" after a 33-23 mauling by the Sharks brought them back to earth with a thump.
On the back of the continuity they showed in their record win over the Sunwolves last week, the Reds entered the contest believing they could hold their own against the Sharks but were left to rue fundamental errors in a loss that could prove costly to their Super Rugby finals hopes.
A try almost a full 10 minutes after the fulltime hooter was more bile in the mouth than sweet consolation to Queensland, with Wright saying it showed what his side was capable of when it managed to hold on to the ball.
Queensland took an 11-8 lead to halftime but there were already cracks evident, with the home side losing four lineouts in prime attacking position and having a try disallowed just before the break for a forward pass.
In a see-sawing second half, the lead swapped three times with super boot Curwin Bosch giving the Sharks a 21-16 lead through a pair of long-range penalties before the Reds looked to have got back on level terms with an eventually disallowed try to Taniela Tupou.
When Lukhanyo Am intercepted a Hunter Paisami pass just minutes later and raced 60m to the line, it seemed a turning point for the Reds, although Wright remained confident his side could still turn things around.
"It's always heartbreaking seeing an intercept especially when we knew we had a good opportunity out wide and we'd just had a try denied, so we thought we really had the momentum there," Wright said.
"But like we showed with those eight minutes after the fulltime siren, when we hold the ball and build pressure, we can score and that's why it was so frsutrating to get in there.
"We said: 'look what we can do when we want to and we hold that ball'."
Coach Brad Thorn said the result was "a long way removed" from the previous week.
"They've been one of the talks of the Super Rugby, the Sharks and they were very good and deserved to win tonight.
"I felt like we had plenty of opportunities but we weren't executing on those. Our lineout was a disappointment for us, we pride ourselves on that area.
"Even in the first half, there were quite a few opportunities 5-10m out and we weren't executing and at Super Rugby level you can't waste those."
The lineout was a disaster for the Reds, who have dominated the set piece this season and generate much of their attack from clean ball there and at the scrum, an area in which they also failed to gain any ascendency.
"There was good pressure from them (at the lineout) but just the execution of the drill was a bit sloppy," Thorn said.
"It's not our usual standard, so it's pretty disappointing."
The loss may have come at a cost too, with flyhalf James O'Connor limping from the field early in the second half, with an ankle injury.
O'Connor's direction and the sniping of scrumhalf Tate McDermott, whose try early in the second term helped the Reds momentarily regain the lead, was sorely missed in the closing stages as the Reds wilted under the visitors' unrelenting pressure.
Thorn said the problem would be assessed but hoped it was just a minor sprain that would allow the Wallabies back to return for Friday night's crucial clash against the Crusaders in Christchurch.
Queensland had their chances against the Sharks, leading 11-8 at the break but they were outplayed and outmuscled by the visitors.
The Reds had the first opportunity through a scrum penalty and Jock Campbell made the most of the chance, converting the kick for a 3-0 lead.
But the Sharks had the chance to respond after Hunter Paisami was ruled to have made a high tackle on Lukhanyo Am, despite the Springboks centre falling into the contact and Curwin Bosch knocked over the kick to tie things up after six minutes.
The Reds' achilles heel has been defending the rolling maul and the Sharks had done their homework, bringing the ball down from a lineout 20m out and marching steadily towards the line before hooker Kerron van Vuuren planted the ball.
The Reds responded through Henry Speight, spinning the ball wide to score, although the home side seemed lucky to get away with a forward pass at the breakdown early in the movement.
Hunter Paisami had showed his value as an attacking ball runner in starts against the Jaguares and Sunwolves but earnt an important turnover midway through the first half that put the Reds back on the front foot.
Queensland wasted their lineout ball but won a scrum penalty, with Campbell slotting the chance for an 11-8 lead they took to halftime.
They didn't hold it for long though, with the Reds on the back foot almost immediately in the second term and unable to stop flanker Dylan Richardson from planting the ball despite Tate McDermott's best effort to get himself under the bigger man.It was McDermott who put the Reds back in the lead though, his eyes-up tap-and-go from a penalty allowing him to dive over to score and restore a one-point lead.
But that was the end of the good news for the Reds.
A pair of Bosch penalties from just inside the Reds' half gave the South Africans a five-point lead and while the Queenslanders looked to have tied things up through Taniela Tupou, Brendon Pickerill's on-field decision of try was over-ruled with the big prop ruled to have crawled his way to the line.
Further heartbreak followed with Lukhanyo Am intercepting a Paisami pass and racing 60m to the line, with the Sharks snuffing out any chance of a Reds fightback with another long-range try to Michael Tambwe.
RESULT
Sharks 33
Tries: van Vuuren, Richardson, Am, Tambwe
Cons: Bosch 2
Pens: Bosch 3
Reds 23
Tries: Speight, McDermott, Craig
Cons: Campbell
Pens: Campbell 2
