Coach Phil Veivers slammed his Salford players after they suffered a 46-8 home hammering by Widnes Vikings.
The City Reds were 24-0 down at half-time against the Super League strugglers and never recovered.
Rhys Hanbury led the way, with two tries and eight goals, while Cameron Phelps and Patrick Ah Van also scored two touchdowns each. The defeat came as a shock to Salford, who were buoyed by successive victories against Warrington and Hull KR.
"We vastly under-performed," said Veivers.
"They had 10 sets more than us in the first half and we were probably lucky to be only 24-0 down at half-time.
"Credit where credit is due – Widnes came with a game plan and stuck to it. They gave it to us and we used a lot of energy up in the first half defending."
The result was Vikings' first away win of the season.