Wigan put Bradford to the sword at Odsal to stay top of Super League but perfectionist coach Shaun Wane expressed his disappointment after his side were held 6-6 in the second half.
A first-half hat-trick of tries from second rower Liam Farrell helped the Warriors establish a 30-0 lead and Sam Tomkins extended it with his 14th try of the season within 90 seconds of the re-start.
However, the leaders were scoreless for the last 38 minutes and Wane said that took the gloss off a fifth straight win.
"I was really impressed by some of the tries we scored in the first half," he said. "I thought our energy was spot on.
"But we were not consistent enough for me. The second half was awful, although the pitch was very sandy and the players said they were fatigued.
"Six-apiece in the second half has taken bit of the joy away for me. We're not playing the way I want yet. If we had been ruthless in the second half, we would have been close."
Farrell caught the eye with his devastating finishing, twice taking advantage of defensive errors, to maintain his remarkable scoring rate.
"I rate him," Wane said. "We've got some good back rowers and he was good again.
"His consistency is outstanding. I don't think his defence has been outstanding this year but he runs hard. There is a lot of improvement in him but I'm very happy with where he's at."
Wane said he was unaware of reports that Parramatta recruitment manager Peter Nolan was at today's game to watch the Warriors' England prop Lee Mossop, who was making his comeback from a shoulder injury.
"He would have been impressed if he was here," Wane said.
"Him and Harrison Hansen both did really well on their return."
Bradford coach Francis Cummins dubbed the game a yardstick to measure his team's play-off prospects after an encouraging start to the season but he remained upbeat despite a first defeat in four matches.
"Credit to Wigan for how they started," he said.
"We came up with some yardage errors and, when you give up field position to Wigan they are very ruthless.
"It ran away with us in that first half and it was always going to be tough from there but I was happy with the second half.
"I'm not too disheartened. Wigan will do this against other teams. I've told the boys we've just got to start again. We will be better for it."
Half-back Jarrod Sammut scored the Bulls' solitary try, taking his tally for the season to 14, while Cummins also drew encouragement from a second substitute appearance of Luke Gale on his return from an ankle injury.
"He's buzzing around," Cummins said.
"I expect him to get better from now on. He was a general out there, he gave us some direction."