Ah, typical Palace. An emphatic win against Tottenham followed by a calamitous first half against West Brom. What a mess. Anyway, here are Robert Sutherland's five talking points from Saturday's defeat.
1. What was that first half about?
Whether it's a lack of confidence or a lack of organisation, that first half performance was one of the worst in the Premier League since Palace were defeated by Fulham under Ian Holloway.
Credit has to go to Tony Pulis (through gritted teeth) for the clinical way in which his side dismantled Palace's brittle defence with just a series of quick, incisive passes. Sure, some of the underlying issue is psychological, but the lack of organisation and positioning - after such a capable performance Tottenham - is difficult to fathom.
The second half - in which Palace showed greater attacking intent and drive - was still somewhat maligned by the potential for defensive calamity. Despite the goals and obvious change in attitude, it didn't make up for what was a destructive 45 minute spell.
2. Pardew's hero status doesn't make him infallible
It's difficult having a manager in charge who was, as a player, a hero at the club. You make exceptions for him that you wouldn't for others. You accept that bad runs will happen and endlessly hope that they'll come to an end.
Palace fans on the whole accept that this has been a difficult spell for Alan Pardew - in part because of the circumstances, in part because of the 32-point safety net already in place, and in part because of the hero status he holds. Would Palace fans have accepted similar runs of form from the likes of Neil Warnock or Holloway?
For all the talk of confidence, or psychological frailty in the team, the manager is paid to make decisions which can positively impact on the side. At the moment, that isn't happening.
3. Is this the Wickham we had hoped for?
Connor Wickham took Alan Pardew's decision to persist with him over Emanuel Adebayor as a vote of confidence, and repaid that faith with two well taken goals.
While the first came thanks to idiotic defending from Jonas Olsson, it took strength, pace, persistence and fearlessness to get himself into that position. The second goal was a beautifully taken strike - the likes of which we've not seen from the £9m signing.
His second half performance against Tottenham was impressive also. For someone that tall and broad-shouldered, his pace comes as a bit of a surprise. He has a burst of speed which can surprise defenders.
Wickham's biggest problem has been the stop-start beginning to his Palace career. He started to make a telling contribution until he got injured at Chelsea. Then at Stoke. And then when he finally returned to the side again, he was suspended for an idiotic elbow on Jan Verthongen. A proper run of games should see more returns. The goals against West Brom showed ability. Now he must put it into regular practice.
4. A season of costly referee errors has hurt us
John Moss joins a long list of referees who have ignored obvious infringements by the opposition to Palace's detriment. Of course, the argument is that these things level themselves out - but they won't make up for the missed opportunities Palace had to pull the game against West Brom level. Both penalty decision were blatantly obvious - and came at a crucial stage of the game.
It's difficult to remember a season where referees have made as many mistakes as in this one. Whether it's Lee Mason refusing to send off Francis Coquelin in the Arsenal match at the start of the season, Michael Oliver failing to punish Bournemouth for Harry Arter's tackle on Zaha, Mark Clattenburg failing to even award a free kick for Stephen Ireland's assault on Yohan Cabaye, or the ridiculous lack of bookings in matches against Swansea and Watford, these are just a few of the incidents which have impacted on our ability to win games.
Of course, the key to winning is also making sure that our side play as well as they can. But when Palace do that, and don't get the decisions that could make a difference, it make the challenge all the more difficult.
5. Yannick the saviour has to start
It seemed, for the first few minutes of Yannick Bolasie's introduction at The Hawthorns, that there was only one player with the enthusiasm to win the game. That enthusiasm, that ability to lead by example, was infectious. It changed Palace's approach entirely. It gave the players around him a focal point.
We talk about the need for balance in the side. Bolasie provides it. He has to start against Sunderland - to provide Palace with the impetus to go for a win from the start.