The Bulls will have to spend the week taking a long hard look at themselves in the mirror after a home thumping at the weekend hit their Super Rugby aspirations hard, coach Pote Human said.
The 56-20 loss to the previously winless Chiefs was either a listless one-off after a bye week or a sign that the South African side's early season form has flattered to deceive.
Human said his players looked flat and did not "pitch at all" for the contest after going a week without a game.
"It was a humiliation for us," Human said.
"We were off our game, very poor. I really hope this is a blip, we know we are much better than this.
"t's a bad one to take and if we play like this we'll never get close to the playoff.
"Every player needs to have a long hard look at himself in the mirror this week."
The Chiefs, overcoming both the heat and altitude, ran in seven tries to stun the Loftus Versfeld crowd in a display that Human said made the New Zealand outfit look like the home side.
"The Chiefs were good but we allowed them to look even better.
"They were much more physical than us, they bullied us."